USA Track and Field star Noah Lyles is already qualified to represent Team USA in the Men’s 100-meter event for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. And on Thursday, he moved one step closer to representing the country in another event which he celebrated in a unique way in his post-race interview.
Lyles, who won bronze in the Men’s 200-meter event in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is looking to improve on that finish in this year’s games. But first, he will need to qualify for the event by getting through the U.S. Track and Field Olympic trials, which decides who will represent Team USA in the Paris Summer Games next month.
On Thursday, he made his first big step in doing so, finishing in first place of his heat in the opening round of trials to advance to the semifinals of the trials.
After the qualifier, Lyles spoke with NBC reporter Lewis Johnson about his performance. But interestingly, the conversation shifted quickly to Lyles’ other passion, Yu-Gi-Oh cards, which he even had under his uniform during the competition.
“Speaking of having fun,” said Johnson. “Where are the cards? What do you have today?”
“I got them tucked away in the uniform,” said Lyles before pulling them out for all to see. “I was keeping them behind the number, but they kept falling out so I decided not to do that. I pulled out Exodia for the final for the 100 (meter). But now, it’s time to build the whole thing. I got the left and right arms, and the legs are coming tomorrow.”
Noah Lyles talks about his overall plan with the Yu-Gi-Oh! cards pic.twitter.com/h03RCz4OlX
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) June 28, 2024
Lyles, who has made showing his Yu-Gi-Oh cards a trend before and after races as of late due to a bet with world champion shotputter Chase Ealey, certainly seems to be quite involved with the popular trading card game.
Lewis Johnson, on the other hand, had no idea what Lyles was talking about when it came to the specifics of the card’s meaning.
“You’re speaking German to me, man. I hope everybody at home understands.”
Lyles made it clear that those who know about Yu-Gi-Oh will know exactly what the meaning of his cards is.
“Just know, all the Yu-Gi-Oh fans know. Something big is coming.”
It’s quite fascinating to see Lyles racing with the cards directly attached to his body under his uniform. One would think that this may be a bit uncomfortable when trying to run as fast as possible.
But thus far, it doesn’t seem like it has bothered him whatsoever. So it should be interesting to see if he continues showing his Yu-Gi-Oh cards throughout his Olympic run.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.