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American sprint king Noah Lyles mocks NBA winners being called 'world champions' after his 100m-200m double at – Daily Mail
By Jack Bezants For Dailymail.Com
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America’s Noah Lyles said his 100-200 sprint double at the World Championships in Hungary is a bigger achievement than titles in most US sports stars due to his global rivals.
Lyles had a 19.52-second runaway victory in the 200m on Friday night to back up last weekend’s 100m victory and suggested afterwards that American sports are held back by a lack of competition overseas.
‘I have to watch the NBA finals and they have world champion on their heads,’ Lyles said. ‘World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the US at times. But that ain’t the world.
‘We are the world. We have almost every country out here fighting and thriving and putting on a flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.’
Lyles, 26, has made no secret of his desire to become a truly global sporting star.
Noah Lyles added 200m gold to his 100m gold at the World Championships this week
Lyles suggested his title is a bigger deal than NBA glory because he faces global rivals
‘I think I´ve said a lot of times that I want to transcend the sport. I am the guy who wants to move past just being “track famous”.
He is being followed by Netflix cameras for a series about the world of sprinting but said filmmakers were slow to focus on him and his talents.
‘All I know is they weren’t talking about me at the beginning of that documentary,’ joked Lyles. ‘As soon as I won in Paris they got buddy buddy real quick!
‘I think it went from being a docuseries about the fastest people and then it turned into a docuseries about me.
‘I want people to say “Wow, this isn´t just a fast guy, he´s a well rounded guy with a good personality, and I want to follow him for that”.’
Lyles looked a bit lumbering over the first 50 meters, but after he rounded the bend and moved into the final 80 meters, he overtook and then sprinted away from Erriyon Knighton by .23, holding off any thought of a true rivalry with the 19-year-old American for another year.
Lyle was a surprise winner of the 100m and admitted that the 200m is his favorite competition.
‘The 100 is fun. But the 200, you know, this one is personal to me,’ he said.
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