The track and field world was buzzing. Noah Lyles was returning to the Diamond League in Monaco, and his first race was the 200m against Letsile Tebogo. The bells of rivalry started ringing. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Tebogo beat Lyles twice in the 200m, first in the semis (19.96 vs. 20.08) and then in the final, where Tebogo won gold in 19.46s while Lyles, ill, finished third in 19.70s. At the 2023 Anniversary Games 200m, Noah Lyles won in 19.47 s, just ahead of Tebogo, who ran 19.50 s. He repeated this win in Monaco, shutting down the haters. But then, the pipes of his rivalry with Kenny Bednarek started playing. Frustated, the man has finally spoken up.
A very candid response came from Noah Lyles when he was asked about rivalries in track and field today at the 2025 Lausanne Diamond League Press Conference. “I think rivalries are great. I love rivalries, as long as they’re done correctly. Meaning that they have a storyline, you know, we’re not just making rivalries out of nothing.” While he does not say it directly, he might be hinting at how the track and field community has been pitting him against different athletes, some of whom may not be worth the rivalry.
He confessed, “I get really kind of annoyed when there’ll be situations where, of course, you’ll have one person who has a race with somebody who’s like…somebody has like 50 wins over somebody who has 3. I mean, come on, that’s not right. That’s just the next race that’s showing up.” Again, not a direct hit, but this is true in the case of Noah and Kenny Bednarek. The so-called rivalry stands at a freaking record of 13-2 in favor of the 100m Olympic gold medalist.
The two first faced off in 2020 at Back to the Track in Florida, and Lyles (19.94) edged Kenny (20.19) for the win. Noah Lyles-1, Kenny Bednarek-0. Bednarek didn’t score until 2021. After Lyles had beaten him at the USATF Golden Games and U.S. Olympic Trials, Kenny finally got his first win in their dual at the Tokyo Olympics, silver in 19.68, while Noah took bronze at 19.74. But this one on Kenny’s meter did not move for three years. Meanwhile, Lyles racked up victories at the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships, 2022 and 2023 World Championships, and more.
Noah speaks on rivalries in the sport.
When asked about his view of rivalries in track and field, Noah gave a candid response about how he thinks rivalries should develop in athletics.#DiamondLeague and #LausanneDL coverage presented by @tracksmith and @FleetFeetSports pic.twitter.com/2matWXLWbd
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 19, 2025
Kung Fu Kenny only added another win at the 2024 Olympics, and that, too, while Noah battled COVID. After that, Kenny fell to Lyles twice—at the 2025 USATF Championships and the Silesia Diamond League. The 28-year-old further added, “It’s like, come on, if there’s a rivalry, there’s a story behind it. These two have probably gone back and forth multiple times. They probably have some type of history, or they’re creating history at the time. And that’s the type of rivalry I want to see.” And that’s the rivalry Noah Lyles has with Christian Coleman indoors.
Their first major clash came at the 2024 USA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, where Lyles narrowly beat Coleman by just 0.01 seconds, running 6.43 to Coleman’s 6.44. The rematch at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow saw Coleman turn the tables, winning in 6.41 seconds while Lyles finished close behind at 6.44.
Another example could be his rivalry with Kishane, the one he wants to take to the next level. In the post-race interview in Silesia, the World Champion said, “I wanted to do a one-v-one race in Jamaica. Just me and him. We could fill the whole stadium.” The man loves competition, just not forced.
Noah Lyles takes motivation from rivals
Competition has always been Noah’s best friend. Erriyon Knighton, age 18, ran 19.49 s in the 200 m at the LSU Invitational, becoming the fourth-fastest man in history and surpassing Noah Lyles’s PB of 19.50 at the time. Weeks later, Lyles chased down Knighton at the U.S. championships and, as he edged him at the line, pointed across Knighton’s face at the clock, 19.67 for Lyles, 19.69 for Knighton. “I’m always here for competition,” Lyles said
He added, “The fact that somebody has beaten my PR, no matter by how little margin, it gives me an incentive to step up. I’ve been waiting for the day when somebody comes to push me. We’re there. It’s happening.”
When Noah was 23, he said that he did not care about rivals. “I don’t think about rivals a lot. I mean, honestly, in my head, I don’t have any rivals. Track and field is one of those sports where you need to focus on yourself and your own lane. For me, it’s freeing.” Years later, the perception hasn’t changed.
At the start of the season, the Olympian has shared a thoughtful view on rivalries, seeing them as both motivating and secondary to personal focus. He explained, “I’m going to go after it regardless, but it’s always great to have competition. Iron sharpens iron, you know. We all eat and we all get better together.” The man appreciates strong competitors for pushing him to improve, but maybe not all…
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