"That's what they're trying to do"-Justin Gatlin notes similarity between Noah Lyles & Usain Bolt training as American aims to compete at US Nationals

Former athlete Justin Gatlin discussed how Noah Lyles' training plan, focusing solely on the 200m, can give him an edge over others in the 100m, much like Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt during their primes. Lyles came fresh off a second-place finish in the 100m at the 2025 London Diamond League.

Noah Lyles, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 100m, opened his season with a dominant 60m showcase at the RADD Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. He was then sidelined due to an ankle injury before running his first 200m of the season at the Monaco Diamond League.

The multiple-time World medalist trounced the reigning 200m Olympic champion, Letsile Tebogo, clocking 19.88 and leaving the Botswanian sprinter in 19.97. Lyles vied to repeat the winning feat in his 100m season-starter in London but faded to second, while Oblique Seville took first.

Following the event, track pundits Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green noted the similarity between Lyles' training schedule and that of legends Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt. Much like Powell and Bolt, Lyles trains for 200m and gets an edge in the 100m as well, as compared to athletes who only get in the 100m shape and fall short on the track.

"I think that his coach, Lance, and himself are coming up with the idea of the fact of if I am in a 200m shape, the real 200 elite shape, then that 100m is still going to look really good. It's still going to give him what he's looking for. And I say that because that was our secret weapon through our era of knowing that we could run fast. Now you had people who were an anomaly like a Asafa Powell who rarely ran 200s but he was able to turn out 97s 98s as if he was a double athlete. But it also shows that when you stop running as many 200s and start focusing only on the hundreds for those athletes who doubled that, your 100m time would slacken. (18:25 onwards)

He further added:

"I mean, hence also Usain in 2017, he didn't, train for the 200. He only trained for the 100. They didn't give him the superior times that he was looking for as well. So, when you think about that, I think that's what they're trying to do."

Noah Lyles won the 200m bronze at the 2024 Paris Games and sat out of the 4x100m relay because of a health setback.

Noah Lyles revealed his plans to compete at the US National Track and Field Championships

Noah Lyles at the 2025 Novuna London Athletics Meet Previews - (Source: Getty)

Noah Lyles, coming off a threepeat at the 2023 World Championships, received a direct qualification into the 2025 World Championships. Despite that, he expressed his wish to compete in the 200m at the 2025 US National Track and Field Championships, willing to defend his title rather than give it away without any contention.

"We’re going to actually go to the USAs and we’re planning to run 200s. We’re going to run every round. I’m still the national champion in that event. I don’t believe in giving up titles. I earned that title, and someone needs to take it from me if they want it."

Noah Lyles made significant strides in the fashion world after his Paris Olympic heroics. He graced the Met Gala and also engaged in several brand campaigns.

Edited by Agnijeeta Majumder