About

Noah Lyles is an American track and field athlete who competes in the 60-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter dash events. He notably participated in the 2024 Summer Paris Olympics, winning a gold medal in the men's 100-meter final. Lyles drew online attention and backlash in August 2023 after he criticized NBA stars over the “World Champion” title, saying, "World champions of what?" during a press conference. Noah's gold medal at the Paris Olympics in early August 2024 became a viral topic on social media, evoking memes and jokes about his controversial statement about the National Basketball Association Championship.

History

Noah Lyles was born in Gainesville, Florida on July 18th, 1997. His parents are former track and field athletes, inspiring Lyles to follow the same path^[1] and representing the United States at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games where he won a gold medal in the men's 200-meter dash.^[2]

On March 12th, 2023, YouTube channel @RunnerBoi^[3] posted a video about Lyles' rise at track and field competitions (seen below), which amassed more than 172,000 views and 2,300 likes in a year.

Noah Lyles' "World Champions Of What?" Comment

On August 28th, 2023, following Lyles' win in the 200m track and field competition at the world athletics championships in Budapest, the U.S. sprinter called out the NBA for labeling the season winners as "world champions," saying "World champions of what?" Guardian Post^[4] uploaded a video of the moment (seen below), which amassed over 1.5 million views and 37,000 likes in a year.

Lyles' quote received backlash from NBA athletes and fans, like the X^[5] page @NBAMemes, which posted a meme (seen below) comprised of a montage making fun of the athlete, amassing more than 1,200 likes and 86 reposts in a year.

Noah Lyles' Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards

The American track and field athlete's love for anime and manga, especially Yu-Gi-Oh!, has sparked a series of viral posts and parodies on social media.

For example, on June 22nd, 2024, the X^[6] page @NBCSports shared a clip of Lyles pulling out the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Yu-Gi-Oh! card for his 100m intro, which amassed over 1.7 million views and 15,000 likes in two months.

Online Presence

Noah's performance at the 2024 Summer Paris Olympics gained significant online attention, especially after his comment about the NBA the year before. His gold medal victory in the men's 100-meter final sparked a series of memes and jokes on X, TikTok and Reddit.

For instance, on August 4th, 2024, X^[7] user @SoulKingLives tweeted (seen below, left) "Noah Lyles to the NBA community right now," which amassed more than 54,000 likes and 4,400 reposts in two days. On the same day, Redditor TheMasterFul1^[8] posted a meme on the /r/Futurama subreddit about Lyles' victory at the Paris Olympics (seen below, right), which received roughly 440 upvotes and 13 comments in two days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References