"You are the leader, you're the captain of the ship" - Noah Lyles on a professional's mentality in track and field

Noah Lyles, 6-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist, recently sat down with fellow Olympian Joseph Fahnbulleh for an episode of the former's podcast titled "Sprint Talks".

Noah Lyles began the Sprint Talks back in August 2022 and has released four episodes for track and field fans so far. Fahnbulleh was a part of the debut episode of the podcast as well, where he joined guests Jereem Richards and Dr. Jo Brown to discuss stories on the sprinting mindset.

Joseph made a repeat appearance on the fourth episode of Sprint Talks titled "INTERNET COACHES CAN SHUT IT". Here, he, alongside Noah, discussed topics like how to deal with injuries, betting on your favorite players, why track and field could use a little trash talk, and what they think of internet coaches.

They even touched on transitioning to the elite circuit after competing at the college level, with Noah Lyles saying,

"As a professional, the role is almost reversed, now it's you are the leader, you are the captain of the ship and you're not telling other people "I want this for myself".

Joseph, who is currently racing for the Florida Gators in the NCAA agreed, adding,

"When you become your own boss, you have to hold yourself to a certain level, I don't think people really understand that, so when they say track guys are somewhat selfish, or any professional athlete is somewhat selfish, you have to be because you are your own boss, you are like a machine, you have to just keep moving and keep going"

This 45-minute-long episode of Sprint Talks came after a six-month-long wait and was received with overwhelming positivity from fans.

Olympic champion Ashton Eaton even chimed in on X (formerly Twitter), to let Noah Lyles know that it was "great stuff".

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Noah Lyles wants to reinvent track and field

Noah Lyles kicked up a storm at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, taking home three gold medals. With his larger-than-life personality and celebrations, the American thinks track and field needs to bring new fans to the sport.

According to him, sprint races need more than just athletes running to get people to walk into the stadium.

"We need to push them back into track meets, get the energy and they’ll be like, ‘Oh, I want to be there for that moment! When people come to see me, they get excited because they know a special moment is going to happen. Whether the time is fast or not, it doesn’t matter because they know when they come to a track event I’m at, it’s going to be electric." he told Olympic.com

With his large and loyal fan following, Lyles certainly seems to be onto something. Before him, it was Usain Bolt who drew crowds to the stadium with his speed and personality, and it remains to be seen if Noah can emulate the popularity achieved by the Jamaican.