Noah Lyles
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It’s been a couple of years since Noah Lyles found himself butting heads with some NBA players before getting engaged in a beef with Tyreek Hill. The sprinter was apparently prepared to face off against him in a race this weekend, but he revealed the showdown will have to wait while declining to offer much insight into why it was called off.
Noah Lyles has had a bit of a target on his back since he called out NBA players for referring to themselves as “world champions” in 2023, and while he earned the right to call himself exactly that after winning a gold medal for Team USA at in the 100 m at the Paris Olympics, he had to settle for bronze in the 200 m after being diagnosd with COVID-19 ahead of the race.
His performance at the Summer Games failed to impress Tyreek Hill, as the wide receiver asserted he could be the sprinter in a race while implying he’d made up the sickness as a cover story for his disappointing showing in an event he’d pledged to win.
The two men traded some words last summer before the feud fizzled out, but Lyles reignited it after winning a race in February by pulling out a note mocking the Miami wideout.
Noah Lyles wins his FOURTH straight 60m final at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix…plus a little message. 👀
📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/QYjkEtqksx
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 2, 2025
Lyles and Hill have repeatedly teased the possibility of a head-to-head showdown that hadn’t come to fruition by the time the latter posted a time of 10.15 seconds in the 100 m last weekend, which is certainly impressive but still a far cry from the personal best of 9.79 the former had in Paris last year.
Based on what Lyles had to say while speaking at an event in France this week, the two men were gearing up to settle the score once and for all in Times Square this weekend, but he revealed it won’t be happening in a video captured by Jenna Lemoncelli of The New York Post.
Lyles said he’d put in a fair amount of effort behind the scenes to convince sponsors to get on board and didn’t get into the specifics concerning the decision to cancel it, saying:
“Unfortunately, there were some things, complications, personal reasons that it just didn’t come to pass, but we were full on. We were going to shut down New York’s Times Square and everything, it was going to be a lot of fun.”
It’s unclear what distance the two men were planning on running, and while Lyles didn’t say the window for the race has passed, it’s a bit hard to imagine it will end up taking place this year unless they can figure out a way to orchestrate another one before the Dolphins start training camp at the end of July.