PARIS — Noah Lyles didn’t hesitate when asked what inspired his epic victory in Sunday night’s incredibly close and incredibly dramatic Olympic men’s 100-meter final.
The newly crowned fastest man in the world rummaged through a large bag and then showed off the Tokyo bronze medal he packed before leaving for Paris last month.
“I was energized when I saw it in my hands,” Lyles said.
For Lyles, the medal is not a prize he has won, but a symbol of the worst moment of his career as an athlete. He brought it with him to the Stade de France a few days ago because seeing it immediately motivates him.
Lyles won his first career Olympic gold medal in a photo finish Sunday night, rallying past Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second. He is the first American to take the top spot in the men’s 100 meters since Justin Gatlin did it 20 years ago.
That could be the start of a transformative week for Lyles in Paris if all goes according to plan. He is the overwhelming favorite to win gold in the 200 meters this week and is the obvious choice to run the closing leg of the men’s 4×100-meter relay. According to Lyles, he might even be able to convince others to run a leg of the 4×400-meter relay and thus have a chance at a fourth gold medal at the same Olympics.
The starting point for all this success came three years ago. Lyles did not win gold in Paris but was satisfied with bronze in Tokyo.
During the buildup to the Tokyo Olympics, Lyles was not in a good mental state. The depression he had suffered as a child when he was bullied had returned, fueled by the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the killing of George Floyd and the uncertainty about when or if the Tokyo Olympics would happen.
Lyles only qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 200 meters, not the 100. When she arrived to empty stadiums, strict COVID protocols and minimal support from family or friends, her mental health deteriorated further.
Standing on the starting line before the men’s 200-meter final, he remembers thinking: “This isn’t fun. This isn’t what it is.”
Lyles, then 24 and already the world’s top 200-meter runner, finished third in the 200 that day, only his second loss at that distance as a professional. Uncharacteristically, he failed to hold on to a slim lead as he rounded the bend and let Canadian Andre De Grasse and fellow American Kenny Bednarek get past him.
When Lyles spoke to reporters that night, she called her bronze medal “boring.” She sobbed as she talked about her own mental health struggles, about antidepressants causing her to gain weight and having to stop taking those medications to prepare for the Olympic trials.
Lyles returned home telling himself, “I have to change. I have to evolve.” He says recommitting to therapy was what made the biggest difference for him. Therapy helped him overcome his paralyzing fears of returning to the track and turn the disappointment of Tokyo into fuel for future success.
Whereas before he felt pressure to live up to other people’s expectations of him or was anxious before a big race, he now says he tries to frame it as being “extremely curious to see what’s going to happen.”
“That’s what my therapist and I say,” he said, smiling. “I’m curious to know what I’m going to do. How am I going to achieve it?”
The opportunity Lyles wanted to see didn’t take years or months. It took weeks. Just a month after the Tokyo Olympics, Lyles posted a world-leading time in the 200 meters at the Prefontaine Classic. In 2022, he eclipsed Michael Johnson’s American record in the 200 meters, and last year, he achieved the rare sprint triple at the World Championships.
Everything Lyles accomplished dates back to three years ago.
“I think, ‘Yeah, I think I’m doing enough,’” Lyles said earlier this summer. “Then I turn around and look at the medal: ‘Okay, let’s get back to work.’”