Double world 200m champion relishing the chance to shine in front of 50,000 sell-out at London Diamond League

Noah Lyles is not shy in front of a big audience.

The US athlete, who is aiming to win three gold medals over 100m, 200m and 4x100m at next month’s World Championships in Budapest, is eager to lay down another marker at the London Diamond League.

Lyles has just lost just three 200m races in his entire career and has no intention of adding a fourth at the London Stadium on Sunday (July 23).

The recently turned 26-year-old has a season’s best of 19.67 and will be heavy favourite going into the race, especially after the withdrawal of US 200m champion Erriyon Knighton.

The only other two guys in the field who have gone sub-20 seconds over the 200m this season are Letsile Tebogo and Alexander Ogando, clocking bests of 19.87 and 19.99 respectively.

Zharnel Hughes, who holds the world 100m lead after his British record of 9.83 at the New York Grand Prix last month (June 24), will also be keen to create domestic history in front of a home crowd.

If Hughes runs well then expect him to get close or even beat John Regis’ mark of 19.94, which has stood since 1993.

The fact that Hughes clocked 19.77 to win the 200m at the UK Athletics Championships (July 9), with a 2.3m/s tailwind that was agonisingly close to the legal limit, proves he is the form of his life. His personal best of 20.02 is astonishingly from 2015 and is bound to be bettered.

When Lyles learnt of the record in the press conference, he turned to Hughes and stated “oh we can get that [British record]”.

AW caught up with the American ahead of the London Diamond League.

You’ve talked about success for you is three gold medals [100m, 200m, 4x100m] at the World Championships. Have you looked at the schedule? 

I’ve recently looked at the schedule. First two days involve three rounds of the 100m. Two days rest. Then three rounds of the 200m. The last day will be the 4x100m final. It will be intense but I think my training has held up very well over the last few years to be able to handle a challenge like that.

How do you mentally prepare for something like that? 

I’ve done six rounds at the US and Olympic trials beforehand. I was reading something a while ago saying ‘Noah Lyles has never faced this challenge’ and I was like ‘you’ve never been to the US trials’. I didn’t do too well in the 100m final and I’d say that’s the only race that I’ve probably ever choked in.

But I remember coming back and winning the 200m in those trials and that was probably my worst year ever. So I’m pretty confident going into Budapest where it’s definitely not my worst year ever.

What do you make of the 50,000 sell-out at the London Diamond League? 

I’m excited to be in front of a big crowd. The more the merrier and the bigger the crowd is the more energy I get. It’s like I feed off them. the bigger the crowd, the better the show.

We talk about inspiring the next generation outside of just track and field. Could you explain more about the fashion walk ons that you’ve done recently? 

It’s going really well. It’s been a lot of hard work but it’s also very rewarding. We started at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (February 4). My agent was the meet director and I was like ‘this is something I want to happen’. I love my agent as he is someone who always listens to my ideas and wants to push innovate ideas. He’s helped me out on each of the fashion walk ons I’ve done.

At the New York Grand Prix, he was also the meet director so we were able to show our vision and hype around it. I wanted more people but the energy and the clothes was exactly what I wanted and the New York Times wrote an article on it. We got a few other big Instagram fashion channels picking it up and getting it to different crowds.

These were the people and views that we weren’t previously getting into track and field.

Do you feel like you’re a key protagonist/influencer in getting track and field out to the masses and out of a more traditional audience? 

I wouldn’t say I’m the only one, by far. I think we all want to see the sport grow and evolve. What I would say is that I think I might have the most resource. I’ve met tonnes of people who have ideas and have such a passion to do stuff but they don’t know where to go, how to start or the direction later on.

So, in that case, I’ll just tell them to come to me. I’ll put them in touch with the right people. You’re only one person away to the person you need to get to.