"Can't believe"- Noah Lyles celebrates three-year anniversary of historic feat achieved at major championships

American track and field athlete Noah Lyles recently looked back at a major moment in his career. It has been three years since his record-breaking 200m win at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Lyles won the 200m race with a time of 19.31s, breaking Michael Johnson’s long-standing American record of 19.32s, set in 1996. His teammates Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton finished the race in second and third place, respectively.

On July 21, 2025, Lyles shared an image back from the 2022 World Athletics Championships, in which he is seen roaring in celebration and tearing his T-shirt after crossing the finish line first. He captioned the Instagram story:

“I can’t believe it’s already been 3 years since this day.”

Screenshot of story (Image via IG/nojo18)

Noah Lyles had an undefeated 2022 season, running all his 200m races sub 20.00s. He carried that momentum into the next season, winning triple gold at the World Championships in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. Later, at the Paris Olympics, the American athlete delivered another strong performance, winning two medals, gold in the men’s 100m and bronze in the 200m.

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Noah Lyles opens up about major mental health struggle behind break from track

2025 Novuna London Athletics Meet - Source: Getty

Noah Lyles recently opened up about the mental health struggles that led him to take a short break from the track. The Olympic champion began his 2025 season at an invitational meet in Florida. After competing in the 400m at the Tom Jones Memorial meet in April, Lyles did not return to competition until his 200m season debut in Monaco on Friday, July 11. He had pulled out of the Atlanta City Games in May, citing a 'tight ankle'.

In a post-race interview with Citius Mag, Lyles spoke about the struggles that led to his mid-season reset:

“Yeah, indoor we kind of was just building up, you know, New Balance Grand Prix, ran well there. I said, ‘All right, we’re just going to get back into training.’ And it was kind of rough ‘cause I was dealing with some serious gold medal depression and just not getting a mental break from everything I was doing,” Noah Lyles said (via Citius Mag, 0:39 onwards). “And I had to force a reset in the middle of the season. And then on top of that, I got injured a few weeks later and it was like, ‘Okay, wow, I’m really getting a break here,’” he added.

Noah Lyles ran his 200m and 100m season openers at the Monaco and London Diamond League events, held on July 11 and July 19, respectively. He clinched the 200m title, and in the 100m, he finished in second place.

Edited by pranavsethii