Usain Bolt sends reminder to Noah Lyles after 16-year-old sprinter

With Noah Lyles having been highly-tipped coming into the Paris Olympics, Usain Bolt has revealed whether he was worried about his long-standing records coming into the Games

Usain Bolt admitted that he did not feel worried for his records ahead of the Paris Olympics

Usain Bolt admitted that he did not feel worried for his records ahead of the Paris Olympics (

The Jamaican set the time to beat back in the 100m in 2009 when he crossed the line at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin having recorded a time of 9.58. Incredibly, he set a world record in the 200m just four days later in the German capital with a time of 19.19 seconds.

Coming into the Games over the summer, American ace Lyles had been tipped to potentially challenge those showings – with his time of 19.31 seconds in the 200m in the World Championships having put him third in the all-time stakes. Eventually, the 27-year-old earned gold in the 100m with a personal best of 9.784 as he failed to break Bolt’s record.

In addition, he came up short of expectations in the 200m in the French capital, having to settle for bronze with a time of 19.70. Lyles later revealed that he has contracted COVID-19, as he decided to pull out of the subsequent 4x100m or 4x400m relay races due to illness.

Now, the legendary Bolt has confessed that he was never concerned that his records would be under threat during the Olympics over the summer. Speaking on the ‘High Performance Podcast,’ he divulged: “I wasn’t worried (laughs). I can say. It’s going to take a while, but I’m always happy when it stays intact.”

During a wide-ranging conversation, Bolt also left Lyles out of his fantast 4 x 100m relay team, saying: “Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. It would definitely be Asafa [Powell] to start, then Justin [Gatlin], Yohan Blake, and me at anchor. Those would be the four. When I started out, I was 15 when I won the world juniors.”

Team USA superstar Noah Lyles was left sprawled on the track after winning the bronze medal in the men’s 200m final at Stade de France (

The track and field icon also issued advice to youngsters making their way in the athletics world after 16-year-old sprinter Gout Gout broke his 200m time at the U20 World Championships in Peru. The retired superstar said: “I was really young, I was really talented, so I didn’t have to work as hard.

“It was just talent, (but) I was winning, winning, and winning. I remember when I got to the professional level, and I felt like it was just going to be easy. (But) I got onto the stage, and I would go to meets, and I would lose.

“I was like, ‘This is strange, this is new.’ It was something that took me a while to understand. Then, when I started working with Coach Mills, and he kind of sat me down and explained, ‘Listen, everybody who’s a professional has talent, so it’s who works the hardest on their talent who will be the best.”

Bolt added: “That’s when I kind of understood that you can’t get to the top with just talent alone. You need work, you need sacrifice, you have to be dedicated. It took me time, but I learned along the way, and I got better over time.”