“This is a hard-fought, dog-eat-dog life”: When Noah Lyles opened up on struggles he faced before debut World Championships

Noah Lyles once opened up about the emotional and physical challenges he faced ahead of his debut at the World Championships. He made his first global championships appearance in Doha in 2019.

Weeks before his participation in the tournament, Lyles began feeling homesick due to the constant travel and being away from home. He experienced this while living out of hotel rooms in Europe.

In a June 2024 interview with Time.com, Noah Lyles reflected on learning the harsh realities of the professional athlete’s lifestyle during that time. He shared:

“I really learned at that point this is not a glamorous life. This is a hard-fought, dog-eat-dog life that you’ve got to get through.”

During that challenging period, Lyles found comfort when his mother, Keisha Caine Bishop, visited him in Amsterdam and brought his favorite cereal, Raisin Bran Crunch. Bishop, a former athlete, is one of the biggest inspirations in Lyles’ life and has constantly encouraged him, along with her other kids, Josephus and Abby, to pursue whatever they wanted in life since childhood.

Lyles' biggest career accomplishment so far is winning an Olympic gold medal in the 100m and becoming a six-time world champion. Beyond his professional success, he proposed to his girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield, in a grand setting in 2024.

Noah Lyles’ fiancée opens up on how the Olympic champion helped her overcome tough phase and inspired her to keep pursuing

Junelle Bromfield and Noah Lyles attend the 2024 GQ Men Of The Year Party (Photo by Olivia Wong/WireImage)

Noah Lyles’ fiancée, Junelle Bromfield, reflected on how the Olympic champion helped her overcome a difficult phase in her life, during which she considered quitting the sport.

During their April 2025 cover appearance interview for The Knot, the Jamaican athlete got candid about the period, which was due to her mother’s death in 2021, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. She shared how it affected her and the advice Lyles gave her.

“At that time, I was in Jamaica. I wasn't making any national teams or anything, so it was nice to have somebody who's at the top of their game telling you that you can do it too, no matter your circumstances or what you're going through.”

“I was going to quit, because it was getting hard mentally. And Noah helped me get through that. He told me that I've got nothing to lose, that I am talented and whatever I aim for in life, I will be good at it.”

After her appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she participated in the women’s 400m, reaching the semi-finals, and the mixed 4x400m relay, where the Jamaica finished fifth.