"I just believe that every moment was made for me"- Noah Lyles gets real after defeating Olympic Champion in comeback after injury

Noah Lyles expressed his thoughts after winning the men's 200m at the Monaco Diamond League. The American athlete clocked 19.88 in his first 200m race since the Paris Olympics and defeated Botswana's Letsile Tebogo to clinch the title.

The 27-year-old had been delaying his first major appearance of the 2025 outdoor season since the Adidas Atlanta City Games. Noah Lyles shared that he had been dealing with 'ankle tightness,' due to which he decided to skip some races and focus on his recovery, keeping the upcoming World Athletics Championships in foresight.

Initially, Noah Lyles had announced that he would return at the London Diamond League; however, the Olympic gold medalist made a surprise announcement on Instagram revealing that he would make his first major outdoor appearance at the Monaco Diamond League.

Lyles competed against one of his arch rivals, Letsile Tebogo, who defeated him in the 200m at the Paris Olympics. The American athlete was trailing behind in the final stretch of the race; however, he registered a strong finish to clinch the victory from Tebogo, who stood second with a performance of 19.97s.

The American athlete spoke about his performance in a post-race interview and shared that he had worked very hard in the off-season and executed the race with confidence. Moreover, Noah Lyles shared that he stepped on the track with a lot of self-belief and enjoyed competing in his first major outdoor race of the season.

"I just believe that every moment was made for me. I was made for such a time as this and going out there and believing that and knowing that I have trained my hardest for it, its all that I need to be thinking about is go out there and have fun," he said.

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Noah Lyles opens up about struggles with injury in the outdoor season

Lyles at the 2025 Diamond League - Herculis EBS - Source: Getty

Noah Lyles opened up about his decision to withdraw from the Adidas Atlanta City Games in an interview with NBC. The American athlete shared that his team was surprised by the injury and hoped for a quick recovery.

However, since the ankle recovery was taking longer than expected, his team collectively decided to take a 'safe' decision and skip some events till he was completely fit to compete.

"Unfortunately, I just got a really tight ankle. It just kind of surprised us, came around two weeks ago. We came here thinking that you know, anything could happen, it could loosen up, but we're just like, you know, it's not getting better. Let's just play it safe. I got two byes to the World Championships, there's no need to rush anything. So, pulled out for today," he said.

Noah Lyles' major aim of the season is to defend his World Championship title in both the 100m and the 200m.

Edited by Adityan Pillai