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Noah Lyles gave everything Track and Field needed this season both on and off-track. While some of the nominees gave only exceptional competition performances, the American speedster showed that an athlete can be an all-rounder, and so he is the most deserving of the Men's Athlete of the Year Award.
When World Athletics released the eleven nominees for the 2023 Men's Athlete of the Year Award, Noah Lyles expectedly made this list, as he was one of the outstanding athletes this season.
Lyles performed exceptionally at the World Championships in Budapest, winning the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m world titles. His awe-inspiring treble made him the first American to win three gold medals at a World Championships since Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix in 2007 and the first male sprinter to do the sprint double since Usain Bolt in 2015.
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18:45 - 11.10.2023
Noah Lyles: World's fastest man demands more awards given than just Athlete of the Year
World Champion Noah Lyles has demanded more awards from World Athletics than just Athlete of the Year.
Crouser, Duplantis, and Kiptum with strong claims as top contenders
Despite Lyles's outstanding feats, he has other strong competitors who had impeccable seasons as well and have strong claims of being the top contender.
These athletes did not only become world champions in their respective events but produced World Record-breaking performances at least once this season. The top three that ticks these boxes are:
Ryan Crouser, USA, shot put
- World champion
- World Record (WR)
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Mondo Duplantis, SWE, pole vault
- World champion
- Diamond League champion with World Record
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Kelvin Kiptum, KEN, marathon
- London and Chicago Marathon winner
- Marathon World Record breaker
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Why Noah Lyles should be the overwhelming favourite to win
A criterion of vital importance that the World Athletics voting committee considers is the WR. Though Lyles didn't set a WR in any of his events, his on-track performances and off-track influence brought more visibility to the sport this season and so he deserves to be crowned the winner based on the reasons below.
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1 - Off-track growth and influence
After the retirement of the legendary Usain Bolt, most athletics enthusiasts wondered if any athlete would ever fill in his shoes as the face of track and field.
This year, Lyles stood tall as the one to take the sport to the next level. The 26-year-old placed athletics in the spotlight and made it the centre of attention when he made his “World champion of what? statement at the NBA, to which much of the sporting public in America reacted to the comments with outrage and anger - filling broadcast schedules with opinions about why Lyles was wrong.
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21:30 - 28.08.2023
Noah Lyles: Drake, Durant and NBA stars blast sprinter on 'World Champs' jab
Drake, Durant, and NBA stars blast Noah Lyles for saying the NBA champions are not 'World Champs'.
He became the most talked about and controversial male athlete. Also, becoming increasingly peerless at knowing how to be famous away from the track and transcending the sport.
Now, he can be found at fashion shows collaborating with designers, artists, and musicians, as well as starring in his docuseries designed to peek behind the scenes of the sprinting world.
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14:45 - 29.09.2023
Noah Lyles takes Mico Milano guests’ breaths away at the Hugo Boss fashion show
Lyles, whose love for fashion has been well documented, was able to showcase his dress sense at the event, picking up where he left off during the season when he would stun at walk-ins during meets.
In summary, Lyles improving his brand off-track has brought more recognition and new fans to athletics this season, which can't be attributed to the other nominees.
2 - Records and significant feats attained
As stated earlier, Lyles's only deficit was not breaking the World Record in his events. However, he set several records and attained significant feats that stood out from the rest of his competitors.
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03:23 - 10.10.2023
Noah Lyles: World's fastest man acknowledges Usain Bolt as the epitome of consistency
World champion Noah Lyles talked on consistency and legacies, sighting Usain Bolt as an example and inspiration.
- Broke Bolt's record (34) for the most sub-20s runs in the 200m (38).
- Become the fifth man in history to complete the 100m and 200m sprint double at a World Championships.
- Completed a hat-trick of World Championships 200m gold medals in Budapest (Bolt was the only one to achieve this).
- He is the first male sprinter to do the sprint double since Bolt in 2015.
- The first American to win three gold medals at a World Championships since Tyson Gay and Allyson Felix in 2007.
3 - Brand representation
Lyles without any iota of doubt demonstrated that he's the best individual brand in athletics for the next year, both in his consistency at winning and his demeanour of transcending the sport off-track.
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Here's a perfect representation to summarize this as written by Euan Crumley for athleticsweekly.com.
"Not only does Lyles know how to win, he is also becoming increasingly adept at knowing how to play the game away from the track.
He regularly speaks of “wanting to transcend” the sport and being more than “track famous”. In Budapest, he was followed closely by the Netflix cameras. Ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics, the streaming platform will be screening a series that focuses on the quickest humans on the planet. The hope is that it can have a similar effect to the Drive to Survive project that did so much to raise the profile of Formula One.
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23:01 - 12.09.2023
'Go back home! This is an NBA conversation' - Noah Lyles responds to Drake on 'world champion' jab
With USA losing to Germany in the semifinals of the FIBA World Cup, Noah Lyles had the last laugh on his NBA and world champions statement, and has come for Drake's insult at him.
“They weren’t talking about me at the beginning of that documentary,” joked Lyles. “As soon as I won [at the Diamond League] in Paris, they got buddy, buddy real quick!
“I think it went from being a docu-series about the fastest people and then it turned into a docuseries about me.”
"The fact he is coping with it, and indeed inviting it in, is highly impressive in itself."
In conclusion, World Athletics needs to upgrade from just rewarding performances with world record's, and start giving attention to the all-round value an athlete brings to the table on and off-track as the face of the sport for an incoming season.
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