“I’ve gotten hotel upgrades because of that” - Noah Lyles reveals surprising off-field gesture

Noah Lyles recently talked about a surprising off-field gesture that has helped him achieve some extra benefits. The reigning world champion sprinter opened up about his love for Japanese anime.

In a recent interview with the WWD portal, the Olympic champion sprinter explained how his love for the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards before races has earned him hotel upgrades. Lyles joked that this was more for his love for Japanese anime rather than this status as a world champion!

Lyles elaborated further on this point in his interview as he said,

“I’ve gotten hotel upgrades because of that. That’s for pulling out the ‘Blue-Eyes White Dragon’ [one of the most mythical cards in the game] and not because I’m a living champion.”

Noah Lyles' love for Japanese anime and other arts is well known. The athlete made the Goku gesture from the ‘Dragon Ball-Z’ series after winning the men's 200m gold medal at the World Championships. Lyles further revealed that he has some interesting plans for his future, although he refused to elaborate further. The American sprinter added in the interview,

"A lot of my ideas are very out of the box. And I just have to make sure that I can actually make them come true first before I start talking about them.”

Noah Lyles is aiming to maintain his current performance parameters. He aims to achieve the golden triple at the Los Angeles Olympics, i.e. gold medals in all the prime sprinting events.

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All about Noah Lyles' performance in the 2025 season

Noah Lyles after winning the men's 4x100m relay finals at Tokyo World Championships 2025 [Image Source : Getty]

Noah Lyles has had a fantastic time this season. The Olympic champion sprinter was one of the few rare athletes who didn't participate in the much-talked-about Grand Slam Track league.

Lyles began his track season at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix held in February. The Olympic champion sprinter won the 60m race with a time of 6.52 seconds. Lyles also tried his hand at the 400m event after years. Despite his best efforts, the sprinter finished fifth at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational with a time of 45.87 seconds.

However, the Olympic champion sprinter proved his mettle in two events, viz. the Diamond League finals held in Zurich and the World Championships held at the National Stadium in Tokyo. The 28-year-old sprinter won the Diamond League title in men's 200m finals after 3 years with an impressive time of 19.74 seconds.

At the World Championships, Noah Lyles experienced a setback in the 100m finals, when, despite his best efforts, he clinched the bronze medal with a time of 9.89 seconds. However, he recovered quickly to clinch back-to-back gold medals in the men's 200m and the men's 4x100m relay, respectively.

Edited by Animesh Pandey