"Noah Lyles looks significantly bigger" - Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green point out American sprinter's significant transformation since break

Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green recently pointed out Noah Lyles' transformation as he returned to the track after a break. Lyles pulled out from competing at the 2025 Adidas Atlanta City Games, held in May, after citing an ankle injury.

The American sprinter made his season's 200m debut at the Monaco Diamond League on July 11 and put up a winning performance. A few days following this win, he competed in his first 100m race of the season at the London Diamond League and secured second place with a flat 10 seconds to follow Oblique Seville.

The former Olympic champion and the host of the 'Ready Set Go' podcast alongside former Bahamian sprinter Green, spoke about Lyles in a recent episode. They noticed a visible transformation in Lyles' physique while praising his strong return. Gatlin stated that Lyles is on the path to becoming a sports icon.

"Noah is at a level to where if he's looking to become an icon, he's walking that path right now because he went out there three months off, came back, run fast, and he prepared himself the right way," Gatlin said. (1:39.20)

Green pointed out that Lyles is now appearing to be more muscular, especially in the chest, arms, and shoulders, to which Gatlin agreed.

"Two things I noticed in that race," Green stated. "I and I don't know if it's just me. I noticed that Noah looks significantly bigger...His chest, arm, shoulders. He is bigger, right? I've seen a few videos in the weight room. He is power cleaning and moving a lot of weight while hang cleaning and everything else."

Lyles has been frequently sharing glimpses of his intense training on social media lately.

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Noah Lyles opens up on his gold medal depression

Noah Lyles at the 2025 Diamond League at London Stadium. (Photo via Getty Images)

Noah Lyles recently reflected on his indoor season, stating that although he performed well, he was suffering from gold medal depression. He further stated that he was feeling down after achieving success but not getting a break.

“Yeah, indoor we kind of were just building up, you know, New Balance Grand Prix, ran well there. I said, ‘All right, we’re just going to get back into training.’ And it was kind of rough cause I was dealing with some serious gold medal depression and just not getting a mental break from everything I was doing," Lyles said. (0:39 onwards)

“And I had to force a reset in the middle of the season. And then on top of that, I got injured a few weeks later and it was like, ‘Okay, wow, I’m really getting a break here," he added.

Noah Lyles is poised to set his eyes on defending his double sprint title at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.