American sprinter Noah Lyles has responded to comments about snubbing Anthony Edwards' release shoes.
Lyles gained a lot of new admirers at the 2024 Olympics by taking home the gold in the 100-meter sprint and the bronze in the 200-meter sprint.
So did Anthony Edwards, who also played for Team USA at the Olympics and also won a gold medal.
However, Lyles failed to attend Addidas' recently launched shoe for Edward, with many believing he has an issue with the brand.
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Lyles reason for snub
Lyles took a dig at the Minnesota star and asked why the corporation would sign Edwards to a shoe deal but not him.
Lyles said, "You want to do what? You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals?
“In a sport that you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe? No disrespect — the man is an amazing athlete.
“He is having a heck of a year. I love that they saw the insight to give him a shoe, because they saw that he was going to be big. All I’m asking is, ‘How could you not see that for me?'
"I want my own shoe. I want my own trainer. I’m dead serious. I want a sneaker, ain’t no money in [track] spikes.
“There’s money in sneakers and even Michael Johnson didn’t have his own sneaker. I feel like for how many medals [track athletes] bring back, for all the notoriety [track athletes] get, the fact that that hasn’t happened yet is crazy to me."
Lyles took to X, the former Twitter platform, a day after his remarks went viral on social media, to elucidate his remarks against Edwards.
According to Bleacher, the sprinter said, "There is a rumour going around that I did not go to [Edwards'] shoe release because he didn't deserve it.
"That is not the case; he definitely deserves his shoes; he is an amazing player. The problem was finding time-based on my prior engagements."
Lyles' was blunt in his response and claimed that his message had been wrongly misinterpreted, insisting Edward deserved his shoe partnership.