London Diamond League: Noah Lyles on life after Olympic gold

Lyles, who suffered with severe asthma as a child and has also spoken openly about his mental health struggles, describes becoming ill with Covid at Paris 2024 as “one of the greatest challenges I have ever had”.

The 100m champion still managed to achieve bronze in the 200m, before being escorted from the track in a wheelchair. It has left him with mixed memories of those Games.

Eager to add more titles to his collection, Lyles has endured a frustrating start to a season hindered by injury.

But he produced a statement victory on his return to action in Monaco last week by beating Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo in the 200m.

A sell-out 60,000 crowd at London Stadium is a stage designed for Lyles to thrive upon as he looks to gather momentum towards the World Championships, with Tebogo and Britons Jeremiah Azu, Zharnel Hughes and Louie Hinchliffe among his rivals in a stellar line-up.

“It’s definitely my kind of place. I love a big crowd, especially when they are engaged and they want to see something. Being a showman, I want to give them a show,” Lyles said.

“It’s my first 100m race [of the season] and I always want to win. A fast time never hurts. I’d love to run 9.8 seconds, but winning is the most important thing.”

Allowing himself to consider what he might have achieved by the end of the next Olympic cycle, while also suggesting he is not going to change all that much, he added: “I’ll either have taken over the track world or I will have three gold medals at the Olympics. Either of those sound great.”