Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles spoke out about the string of mental and physical issues he has dealt with in his life after claiming gold in dramatic fashion on Sunday in Paris.
The American superstar won an incredible 100m final, beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson to the gold medal by the narrowest of margins.
Lyles came into Paris as the reigning world champion in both 100m and 200m after gold in Budapest last year.
He feels the 200m is his best event and will bid to become double Olympic champthis week, with the final coming up on Thursday.
It has been an incredible journey for him to reach this point and he spoke out before this year’s Olympics about the issues he has overcome.
On the intense asthma problems he dealt with during the Covid pandemic, he told TIME: ‘I could barely talk. I was so tired. All the time. Even thinking was a drain. It felt like you were almost in a constant asthma attack.
‘You know there’s more room in your lungs, but you can’t physically use the muscles to actually take that breath.’
Lyles also spoke of the bullying he suffered during his school days, describing it as: ‘An emotional beating, that’s the stuff that really breaks you down.’
The superstar sprinter has overcome it all, though, and fancies more success, telling the BBC after 100m glory: ‘There’s plenty more. I hope you like Noah, I’ve got a lot more coming.’