Noah Lyles may have won the World Athletics award for men's track athlete of the year, but that won't be on his mind for long, as the U.S. sensation eyes Olympic glory and making everlasting change to finally be recognized as one of the sport's greats.
Hailing from Gainesville, Florida, the 26-year-old sprinter started the year the same way he left the last: undefeated in his specialist event - the 200-meter dash.
In August, he won a gold medal in the 200-meter men's final with the time 19.52 at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. It was his third gold medal in the event, and fifth gold medal overall at the biennial competition.
With his three 200m gold medals in the World Athletics Championships, Lyles made history by surpassing Michael Johnson (2) and Calvin Smith (2). He is now second on the world all-time list at 200m at the World Athletics Championships, only behind Usain Bolt with four gold medals.
So, with the 2024 Olympics in Paris fast approaching, who exactly is the third fastest man on the world's all-time list for the 200-meter dash, and America's record holder for the event? DailyMail.com takes a look at the athlete who also previously trashed talked the NBA, and doubled down on his comments, recently.
USA's Noah Lyles is eyeing to raise a few eyebrows at the 2024 Olympics in Paris next summer
The 26-year-old sprinter's only won a bronze Olympic medal from the COVID-hit Tokyo games
Lyles specializes in the 200-meter dash -- he is a three-time world champion in the event
Is he single?
As of December 2023, Lyles, dubbed as the world's fastest man, is in a relationship with Jamaican track star, Junelle Bromfield. She, like Lyles, is an Olympic sprinter, taking home bronze for Jamaica in the 4x400 meter relay during the COVID-hit Tokyo Olympics. She also won gold in the same event at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
The couple shared their one-year anniversary on Instagram in August, with Bromfield captioning her post: 'Cheers to 7 years of friendship, 6 months of dating, 1 year of being your partner. And to forever loving you. #1yearanniversary.'
In October, Lyles and his partner went for a vacation to her homeland. They shared footage of the ATV, off-road trail adventure on Instagram, as the posed for photos with friends, including Jamaica's women's 200 meter world champion, Shericka Jackson.
In addition to being Lyles' girlfriend, Bromfield is also his biggest cheerleader on and off the field, as shown on social media during the World Athletics Championships in Hungary.
Lyles won the 'World Athletes of the Year for 2023 in Men's track' trophy in Monaco on Monday
The track and field star's dating Jamaican sprinter June Bromfield, who was also at Tokyo 2020
They celebrated their one-year anniversary in August after seven years of being friends first
Bromfield was also the encouraging voice behind Lyles' decision to paint his nails, according to an interview with GQ.
'I've kind of wanted to do designs with my nails for a long time, but I've never really got into it,' Lyles, who was bullied as a child for being dyslexic and having attention deficit disorder (ADD) said in September. 'Finally, my girlfriend was like: ''You just need to do it for Worlds.''
'I show up at Planet Smoothie and the lady who's getting us our drinks has these amazing nails. I'm like, where [sic] did your nails? And she gives me her contact. This person is so booked that it took me a month before we could even get on the list. We finally get on, I walk in, it is this little girl. I said, ''How old are you?'' She said, ''Well, I'll be 16 next week.'' And she just started going at it.'
What's Lyles' net worth?
As of 2023, Lyles' net worth is estimated to be $5-$10million. In comparison, Bolt - the proud owner of eight Olympic golds and 19 Guinness World Records - has a net worth of around $90million.
Lyles started his professional journey in track and field at age 19 in 2016, instead of going to college at the University of Florida, and signed with Adidas. Lyles also has endorsement deals with Gatorade and Beasts By Dre. He also models and was seen wearing Hugo Boss at Milan Fashion Week.
Much of Lyles' income comes off the back of some of his impressive performances in national and international competitions.
Outside of track and field, Lyles is a model and a rapper. Seen at the 2021 MET Gala in New York
Outside of his athletic achievements, Lyles is also a rapper under the pseudonym Nojo18. He released two full album titled 'A Human's Journey' and 'Universal Love' during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Lyles is also popular on social media platforms like Instagram, where he boats 239,000 followers. On TikTok, his following stands at 21,900. He shares glimpses of his training routines, preparations for competitions, public appearances, and more.
Lyles is also a strong advocate of mental health and youth development programs. He started his non-profit 'The Lyles Brothers Sports Foundation' with his younger sibling, Josephus.
His achievements and Olympic hopes
Lyles has shown incredible speed in his specialized event - the 200-meter dash - where his fastest time is 19.31 seconds - an American record.
On top of his sole Olympic bronze medal from Tokyo and his three World Athletics Championship gold medal, he's also found success in competing in the 100m, as shown this year in Budapest, where he won gold and set a personal best in the final of 9.83 seconds.
What's more is, that in 2017, Lyles established an indoor 300m record, proving his versatility in several sprinting disciplines. His track and field journey first came to the media's attention back in 2014 when he won the 200m gold medal for the USA at the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games.
Lyles with track and field legend Usain Bolt at the Racers Grand Prix in Jamaica, in June 2023
Lyles reacts after winning the 100m final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest
Throughout the years, he has consistently raced in the Diamond League, which led to further acclamation as a prominent figure in the sport.
In comparison, Bolt, is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay, on top of his eight Olympic gold medals and 11 World Champion titles.
The 37-year-old Jamaican is also the only sprinter to win Olympic 100m and 200m titles at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016). He also won two 4 × 100 relay gold medals.