There is plenty of buzz around Noah Lyles right now.
The US sprint star secured gold in the 100m at the Olympics in Paris this summer, before taking bronze in the 200m event.
And earlier this month, Lyles went viral again for a rather different kind of race.
He went one-on-one over 50 meters with streaming sensation IShowSpeed, putting $100,000 on the line for charity.
While many expected the Olympic champion to secure a comfortable win, the race was actually pretty close.
Speed – real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr – got off to the better start, leading Lyles early.
The six-time world champion then pulled it back and while the pair were neck and neck at about halfway, the American sprinter’s raw pace showed and he crossed the finish line first.
Unsurprisingly, their challenge got plenty of people talking.
Lots of fans praised Speed for keeping up, while a former US track and field star detailed why the race was a big win for Lyles.
“At the end of the day, this was a win for track and field,” former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin said on the Ready Set Go podcast.
“Why? It was a charity run for one. He got a $100k. Probably the easiest $100k he ever got.
“That was a win and the people he raced against, ‘Speedy’ has millions of followers. Same thing with the referee MrBeast, millions of followers.
“So now, not only does (Lyles) still secure that he’s the fastest man in the world but also the fact that he has also gained the traction in a whole other place.”
While he praised Lyles for taking on the challenge, Gatlin went on to speculate how he would fare against him in his prime.
“Noah Lyles 2024, Justin Gatlin 2015. One-v-one, who wins (over 150m)?” co-host Rodney Green asked.
“The numbers already show that I’m winning,” Gatlin responded.
“I went 19-5 that year, and I ran five 9-7s that year. Under 9.79 (seconds).”
Back in 2015, Gatlin posted his personal bests in both the 100m and 200m, with times of 9.74 seconds and 19.57 seconds.
Lyles, in comparison, has run 9.79 in the 100m and 19.53 in the 200m this year.
A one-on-one race between a prime Gatlin and Lyles would certainly be thrilling, and it’s one the retired star believes he would win.
However, when Green suggested racing the 2022 version of Lyles, he was far more uncertain.
Lyles set his 200m personal best at 19.31 seconds two years ago – a time that blows Gatlin’s best out of the water.
“I’m not going to lie. I’d have hell on my hands. It would be a great race,” the former sprinter suggested.
“I’m flashing back right now, thinking about when he came off that turn to run 19-3 and how he was moving. I was like, yeah, that’s a different level of moving right there.”
While the debate is purely hypothetical, it’s certainly interesting to get into the mind of a former sprinter – and hear him give the current champion his flowers.
