Paris Olympics: Noah Lyles wins 200m preliminary round after only a few hours of sleep… and is a good friend

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PARIS — Noah Lyles’ first night as an Olympic champion wasn’t as glamorous as he once imagined.

The newly crowned fastest man in the world fulfilled his media obligations, urinated in a cup and then received treatment for his aching body.

As Lyles was driving back to the Olympic Village around 2 a.m., his girlfriend Junelle Bromfield called to ask for a favor. The Jamaican 400-meter specialist had left the bag containing her spikes at the Airbnb in Paris where their massage therapist was staying.

“Not only was I the Olympic champion, I was also the savior of the spikes last night,” Lyles said with a laugh.

“Here I am at 2 in the morning, waddling around with the spikes bag, my bag, and some toiletries. Here I am, Olympic champion, 100 meters, waddling to my girlfriend’s room with all this stuff. I’m thinking, ‘I’m a good friend.’”

Although Lyles said he fell asleep at 2:45 a.m. and woke up at 7 a.m. Monday morning, the lack of sleep didn’t stop him from advancing to the semifinals of the men’s 200 meters later that night. He crossed the finish line in his first lap in 20.19 seconds, far from his best time, but still good enough to take the win ahead of second-place finisher Andre De Grasse of Canada.

Lyles said coach Lance Brauman just told him to take it easy and finish in the “top two.”

“In my heart I said one,” Lyles admitted with a laugh.

Lyles won his first Olympic gold medal in a photo finish on Sunday night, coming from behind to overtake Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and beat him by five thousandths of a second. He is the first American to win the Olympic men’s 100 meters since Justin Gatlin did it 20 years ago.

When Lyles first studied the race during his treatment on Sunday night, his initial reaction was, “Oh, I was really in last place (early in the race).” But as he studied the race data, he found that every segment of his race resembled some of his best performances in recent years.

“So it wasn’t that I was struggling to get out,” Lyles said. “It was that everyone else was trying their best.”

Lyles was especially proud of a 10-meter event at the end of the race, which he completed in 0.82 seconds.

“Coach B and I know that if I’m going to run a 9.7 or a 9.6, I have to run a .82 somewhere in that race,” Lyles said.

Lyles is keeping it all business for now, with his focus on winning the men’s 200 meters and completing an Olympic sprint double. But once the Olympics are over, he says he has “pretty big plans” to celebrate the two-year anniversary since he and Bromfield started dating.

“Last year, unfortunately, we went on a Noah Lyles campaign and that took away from our vacation time,” Lyles said. “I’m trying to be a better friend and spend a lot more time being a couple.”