'It's been the most chaotic season' - Noah Lyles opens up on setbacks and progress ahead of Tokyo World Championships

Ahead of the Tokyo World Championships where Noah Lyles will be gunning to defend his 100m and 200m titles, the American track star has opened up on his season setback and progress, which he tagged 'chaotic'.

The reigning Olympic and World 100m champion has had a roller-coaster 2025 season so far, which saw him plagued with an injury earlier in the year that delayed his training progress and consistent racing at major meets.

He has, however, bounced back to full fitness, getting a few victories and losses at Diamond League meets, topped by beating Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo for the men's 200m Diamond League title, thus setting a new record of six for the highest number of trophies ever won by a track athlete.

When asked in a recent interview how his season has been generally, Lyles gave a blunt response.

"It's been the most chaotic season, I'll probably say, yeah, a chaotic season. Very few races compared to many other years. But also good and bad performances," he said in an interview with Athletics Weekly before the Zurich Diamond League final.

He further added: "I won't say bad, there's my standard and there's what I've been able to accomplish. But there's been a lot of races where I'm like, dang, did I really do that? Like, after going back and watching Lausanne, I was like, wow, I went from last to second...So yeah, just a lot of chaos."

Despite his slow start to the season and having only begun racing two months ago, Lyles remains the favourite to defend his world titles in Tokyo against fierce rivals Kishane Thompson and Tebogo.