Athletics lives on hundredths of a second, subtle gestures and duels that often fade as soon as the race is over. In that context, Noah Lyles, the reigning Olympic champion in the 100 metres, puts forward an uncomfortable but necessary reflection: not every meeting on the track can be called a rivalry. For the American sprinter, the sport lacks something essential to connect more deeply with audiences: history, purpose and intention.

In an era in which other sports have successfully turned matchups into memorable narratives, Lyles believes athletics has yet to fully tap into the power of storytelling. His perspective does not come from external criticism, but from an emotional bond with the discipline that shaped and crowned him. Speaking with Olympics.com, the sprinter breaks away from clichés and proposes rethinking how the sport’s great rivalries are built — and communicated — within the Olympic Games ecosystem.

Rivalries that require more than sharing the same track

For Lyles, the concept of rivalry has been used superficially in modern athletics. Competing multiple times against the same athlete is not enough to generate real tension or sustained anticipation. “There has to be a story. There has to be a purpose. There has to be an intention,” he stresses, underlining that without those elements, the confrontation is reduced to the stopwatch.

His analysis is supported by inevitable comparisons. Ali vs. Frazier transcended boxing; Messi vs. Ronaldo defined an era in football; LeBron vs. Steph reshaped the recent narrative of basketball. In each case, fans followed not only results, but careers, stylistic contrasts and clashes of personality — something Lyles feels athletics has only occasionally managed to offer.

The show as an emotional bridge to the fans

From that conviction, Lyles sees storytelling as a tool to raise the emotional stakes. When there are reasons to care, spectators engage, celebrate and suffer. That is why he recalls recent duels such as Usain Bolt versus Justin Gatlin, or the clashes between Shaunae Miller and Allyson Felix, as opportunities that could have gone far beyond pure competition.

That philosophy also explains the way he inhabits the track. Lyles does not walk to the start line: he bursts in, runs, shouts and rallies the crowd even before the gun goes off. It is not about intimidating rivals, but about delivering an experience. For him, athletics must be felt live, generate irreproducible energy and leave fans with the sense of having been part of something unique — an emotion he hopes to amplify one day in front of his home crowd at Los Angeles 2028.