With Kishane Thompson becoming World leader in 100m, what happened to Noah Lyles? All you need to know about Olympic gold medalist's whereabouts

Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles has been away from major races as the outdoor track season took shape. The American athlete made his last appearance in the Tom Jones Memorial back in April and competed in both the 400m and the 4x100m relay.

He decided to go out of his comfort zone and eventually finished fifth in the men's 400m at the Tom Jones Memorial with a performance of 45.87s. On the other hand ,his rival, Olympic silver medalist Kishane Thompson, has been putting forward strong performances in the 2025 outdoor season. Thompson set a new world lead in the men's 100m at the Jamaican National Trials with a performance of 9.75s.

The Jamaican athlete extended his winning streak in the 50th edition of the prestigious Prefontaine Classic to win the title in the men's 100m against a highly competitive line-up after clocking 9.85s. Noah Lyles was set to compete in his first major outdoor race at the Adidas Atlanta City Games in May 2025; however, he decided to withdraw from the event due to ankle stiffness.

Lyles briefly spoke about his injury in an interview and shared that his team was expecting it to recover before the Adidas Atlanta City Games; however, it did not recover completely, which led him to take the decision. Moreover, Noah Lyles shared that he wanted to be careful with injuries, as he wanted to defend his title at the World Athletics Championships in September.

"Unfortunately, I just got a really tight ankle. It just kind of surprised us, came around two weeks ago. We came here thinking that you know, anything could happen, it could loosen up, but we're just like, you know, it's not getting better. Let's just play it safe. I got two byes to the World Championships, there's no need to rush anything. So, pulled out for today," he said.

Since then, the Olympic gold medalist has been focusing on recovering as well as preparing for his upcoming races later in the outdoor season.

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When will Noah Lyles return to the track?

Noah Lyles celebrates at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024: Day 9 - Source: Getty

Noah Lyles' absence from the track circuit led fans to be questioning him about his plans to return to the track to compete in the season. The American announced his plans to return to the track in an official statement.

The Olympic gold medalist shared that he will be returning to the track at the London Diamond League and moving to defend his title at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

“My road to defending my world titles in Tokyo in September goes through London. I’ve had great experiences there the last two years, running some of my fastest times, and I look forward to another in July. See you there!” he said in an official statement.

Lyles expressed his excitement to compete at the London Diamond League after being able to register some of his fastest times in the stadium.