Noah Lyles Declares ‘My Body Doesn’t Know the Difference,’ Believes He Could Threaten Wayde Van Niekerk’s 400m World Record

Given how Noah Lyles’ dominance on the track has only been getting stronger, even the disappointment at the Paris Olympics didn’t deter his spirit. The 27-year-old had to forcibly cut his Olympic journey short after he went down with COVID-19 before one of his races. But now that he has recovered and gotten stronger, things are looking up.

Lyles recently sat down for a candid chat on the Nightcap podcast with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, where he spoke of his past, present, and future. During the conversation, he mentioned how he had been eyeing newer avenues at the track and his plans for mastering them.

For context, Lyles’ strongest suites on track are short-distance sprints and relays – including the 100m and 200m races. However, he mentioned how the 400m sprint had been enticing enough for him to give it a go and see if he could stand up to it. However, that wasn’t all – looking at his records and timings, at least for the shorter distances, the athlete firmly believed he could beat the best of the best.

The current world record holder of the 400m sprint lies with Wayde van Niekerk, who clocked in at 43.03s at the Rio Olympics 2016. Lyles claimed that if he committed to the prep full-time, he could beat the record and establish a new one.

“I truly would like to take a shot at the world record if I decide to move to the 400m truly and give it my 100% for multiple years…”

Lyles’ reasoning came with reference to fellow sprinter Jereem Richards from Trinidad and Tobago, who transitioned from 200m to 400m. After sufficient prep and pacing, he managed to set a new national record and was a few seconds off from the world record. All the American had to do now was to train his brain and body to adapt.

“My brain understands it…My body doesn’t know the difference. Why would my body think that’s a hard time? My body don’t know that that’s hard.”

For Lyles, this was an opportunity to expand his horizons, try something new, and increase his chances to win more accolades. In fact, he even attempted to put in his name for the 4x400m sprint for Team USA at the Paris Olympics.

Unfortunately, back then, the COVID-19 diagnosis took away his opportunity to attempt his potential first-ever open 400m run. But that hasn’t dulled out his spirit since he’s ready to battle it out in future competitions. While his last 400m sprint took place during his high school days, he still feels that he could make it to the top if he trained hard enough.