Noah Lyles has called out a problem in athletics compared to other sports that even the great Usain Bolt could not solve in his time.
Lyles is the reigning 100m Olympic champion after winning the gold medal at Paris 2024.
The 28-year-old American sprinter also has two Olympic bronze medals to his name in the 200m, which he claimed at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
And he will be aiming to follow in the footsteps of many greats when he bids to become a two-time 100m Olympic champion on home soil when the 2028 edition of the Games take place in Los Angeles in little over two-and-a-half years from now.
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Of course, arguably the greatest sprinter of all-time is Jamaican legend Bolt, who secured his status thanks to performances across three separate Olympics and claiming eight gold medals.
He announced his arrival on a truly global stage at the Olympics at Beijing 2008 by claiming gold in both the 100m and 200m events.
He then competed at London 2012 to win gold in both events once again, as well as being part of the victorious 4x100m Jamaican relay team to take his tally to five medals across only two Olympiad.
And he solidified his legendary status beyond doubt by achieving yet another clean sweep in the same three events four years later at Rio 2016 to take his tally to an extraordinary eight Olympic golds, before retiring from sprinting in 2017.
During Bolt's time on the track, there were rivals to his status, perhaps most notably American sprinter Justin Gatlin.
In a recent interview with Olympics.com, Lyles believes the competition between this pair is perhaps the biggest rivalry in track and field in recent years, as well as Shaunae Miller and Allyson Felix.
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But generally, the 100m Olympic champion feels that athletics as a sport does not promote rivalry among athletes as well as other sports do, and something he believes can be improved upon.
He said: "I'd say the Usain Bolt vs Justin Gatlin was probably the biggest, most memorable one (in track and field recently).
"For a little while, there was the Shaunae (Miller) vs Allyson Felix rivalry… But even with those, they're not really rivalries. They just happened to show up at the same track meets at the end of the year.
"I don't think they got everything they could have got out of these. They could have been pushed so much more.
"When somebody has a dog in the fight, they're more entertained and more willing to participate. When you have no reason to cheer, you have no reason to care."
Topics: Noah Lyles, Usain Bolt, Athletics, Olympics
John McDougall