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Lyles was astonished at the rate in which many people, including those not associated with basketball spoke, including popular artist Drake.
American sprint sensation Noah Lyles has finally responded to the level of attention he has received over the last one month ever since his ‘world champions’ jibe at NBA players spared controversy.
Lyles won three gold medals at the World Athletics championships in Budapest, before finishing his season tying with Ferdinand Omanyala in second place at the Prefontaine Diamond League classic held in Eugene, Oregon over the weekend.
In an interview with Citrus Mag after completing his season, Lyles described in detail what happened right after he had made those comments in his post match press conference after winning the 200 meter race in August.
I reached to my phone and my friends were all blowing up and were like, ‘bro, you got the NBA all talking about you, what are you doing here man?’ and it was like, what are you all talking about?” Lyles said.
Lyles was astonished at the rate in which many people, including those not associated with basketball spoke, including popular artist Drake.
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10:00 - 17.09.2023
ATHLETICS Why Noah Lyles is not disappointed about his loss at Prefontaine Classic
Noah Lyles finished second behind Christian Coleman at the Prefontaine Classic but he is not disappointed in the result.
“All of a sudden, I am seeing all these NBA players stirring up all this nonsense. Drake? Drake? Seriously and I am like ,’man, everyone seems to have an opinion on this one matter and it is not track related.”
The 26-year-old is soaking up to the attention he has received, claiming that he will do everything in his power to keep the fire burning.
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23:16 - 16.09.2023
ATHLETICS Omanyala matches Noah Lyles time as Christian Coleman wins Prefontaine Classic
Competing on home soil, Coleman crossed the line equaling his world-leading time of 9.83 to win the men’s race.
“That is the crazy thing, it is not track related, and some people were like ‘this guy just won three gold medals, you all got to put some respect on his name’ and I was like, ‘I don’t even care’.
“At this point, the fact that my name is being talked about all over the world now, not the track world, the real world, everywhere, that is the important thing, and while I got you here, I am keeping you here!”
Although Lyles has faced criticism, he has also received support for his comments.
Veteran German guard Dennis Schroder was asked by ESPN's Malika Andrews to settle the viral "World Champion" debate sparked by Lyles.
"I mean, the World Cup is every country representing," Schroder said. "Every country has a chance to win. The Denver Nuggets is a great ball club. They beat us in the Western Conference Finals. Respect to them, but the World Cup is the real - I mean, the Word Cup is where everybody represents their countries. And we take that one, for sure."
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15:00 - 17.09.2023
The amount of money Omanyala will earn for matching Noah Lyles' 9.85s at Prefontaine Classic
Omanyala has earned good money from the Diamond League Meetings with his podium finishes and the Prefontaine Classic also offered him more money thanks to his hard work.
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