
Topics: Noah Lyles, Olympics, Athletics
Noah Lyles has outlined the one thing he needs before he can be truly considered in the conversation for the greatest American male sprinter of all time.
The 28-year-old is the 100m Olympic champion after winning gold at Paris 2024.
Lyles also has two Olympic bronze medals to his name in the 200m, which he claimed at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
But Lyles also has numerous gold medals at the World Championships stretching back several years across the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay.
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Lyles will be aiming to become a two-time 100m Olympic champion on home soil when the 2028 edition of the Games take place in Los Angeles.
America has a rich history of male sprinting legends and Lyles has some stiff competition in that department.
Justin Gatlin became the 100m Olympic champion at Athens 2004, while he also picked up the silver medal in that distance at Rio 2016, and also claimed silver as part of the 4 x 100m American relay team in 2004.
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Michael Johnson became a double Olympic champion at Atlanta 1996 in the 200m and 400m.
He also claimed a gold medal at Barcelona 1992 in the 4 x 400m relay, and in the 400m at Sydney 2000.
Carl Lewis can also not be forgotten after winning nine Olympic gold medals in his career.
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Lewis became Olympic champion in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m relay and also in the long jump.
And going back even further in time, Jesse Owens became Olympic champion across four disciplines at the same Games after winning the gold medal in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m and the long jump at the Olympiad held in Berlin in 1936.
Lyles has now spoken about what he needs to achieve to be considered the greatest American male sprinter of all time.
He believes that he needs one more gold medal in the 100m to be given that description and he looked ahead to LA 2028 to achieve that.
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In fact, Lyles hinted that if he wins three gold medals at those Games - which would presumably be in the 100m, 200m and the 4 x 100m relay - that is the moment when he will himself admit that he is the American male sprinting GOAT.
He said: "Not yet. I still believe I need one more gold medal in the hundred before I want to say that I'll be the greatest.
"I'll tell you when LA comes and I finally do get those three gold medals, then I'll say for sure that I am the greatest American sprinter."