‘World champion of what?’: American sprint king slams US sports

American sprint king Noah Lyles has called out US sports over two words which cheapen his World Athletics Championships achievements.

Noah Lyles has questioned the use of “World Champions” in the NBA. Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

American sprint king Noah Lyles has lashed out at other US sports after he pulled off the rare sprint double at the World Athletics Championship.

Lyles had already won the 100m earlier in the competition but sealed his third straight 200m world title to be crowned the undisputed sprint king of the world.

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His two titles in Budapest have made him a four-time world champion and he will likely be a hot favourite with the Paris Olympics only a year away.

Lyles also became the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to complete the sprint double and the fifth man in history. The other three men were Americans Tyson Gay in 2007, Justin Gatlin in 2005 and Maurice Greene in 1999.

But despite the historic result, he will earn a fraction of money and fame of other US sportspeople.

The 26-year-old, who is also the subject of a Netflix documentary on sprinting due next year, said “the bar is low” when asked about how to raise the profile of athletics globally.

“The thing that hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA finals and they have world champion on their heads. World champion of what?” Lyles said at a press conference. “Of the United States?

“Don’t get me wrong, I love the US – at times – but that ain’t the world, that is not the world. We are the world.

Noah Lyles has called out the NBA's use of "World Champions". Photo: Twitter

The Nuggest appear to have had “NBA Champions” on their shirts after winning last year. Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images

The Houston Astros were 2022 World Series Champions. Photo: Harry How/Getty Images/AFP

“We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving putting on their flag to show that they are representative. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.

“We’ve got to do more. We’ve got to be presented to the world.

“I love the track community, but we can only do so much within our own bubble. There’s a whole world out there.”

Noah Lyles has had just about enough of US sports teams calling themselves world champions. pic.twitter.com/CTgNawYRLi

— Cathal Dennehy (@Cathal_Dennehy) August 25, 2023

But while many on social media have pointed out the NBA is stacked with the best basketballers in the world, Lyles’ point still remains as athletics only truly comes to relevance at world championships and Olympics, while the Diamond League rarely makes waves.

Similarly, the NFL’s Super Bowl champions are called the World Champions, despite the game not really being played at a high-level outside of the US.

In baseball, the championship decider is the World Series, despite only having teams mainly from the US, as well as the Toronto Blue Jays from Canada. However, this is due to 1903 Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss challenging the Boston Americans owner Henry Killea to a “World’s Championship Series”. Over the years it was shortened to World Series, although it doesn’t necessarily denote world champions, despite the MLB being the pinnacle of franchise baseball around the world.

And yet they are undoubtedly some of the greatest athletes in the world.

Lyles has joined an elite group. Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

However, Lyles wasn’t only critical of the big US sports for using the World Champion moniker, also taking aim at former athletics world champions, including Usain Bolt, who hasn’t attended a world championship since he retired in London six years ago.

“As I look around this World Championships, I don’t see Bolt, I don’t see Asafa (Powell). I don’t see Yohan (Blake) and he’s still running. Where are all these great champions?” Lyles said.

“We look at them, as we’re walking through the tunnel, at all of these previous world champions. Why are they not here?”

Athletics Weekly reported that earlier in the week there had been a gathering of the 22 past world champions, Olympic champions and record-breakers in Budapest.

Having won the 200m, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist in the 200m said he was “ready to transcend the sport”.

“I am the guy who wants to move past being track-famous,” Lyles said. “I want people to see me on the track, but in GQ and my docu-series, and realise I’m a cool guy too.

“Medals are the first step, because then people pay attention to you.

“And then you can go into different directions. Fashion. Music. You can start collaborating with other people, artists and the world.”

Originally published as ‘World champion of what?’: American sprint king slams US sports