The controversy between Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill took a new turn this week.
Lyles, fresh from sprinting to a gold medal in the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics, said he would accept Hill’s challenge for a race. But it would have to be the signature race often associated with the fastest man on the planet: the 100 meters.
“If someone wants to sponsor the event and we’re racing for millions of dollars and it’s on a track and we’re running 100 meters, then we can certainly race,” Lyles said in a interview with NBC News on Wednesday.
“But it has to be legitimate. I’m not here to do gimmicks. You’re racing against a guy who’s worked his whole life to get the title of ‘world’s fastest man’, and you’ve worked to become a great football player. You can’t just jump the line because you’re a great football player.”
The public back-and-forth between Hill and Lyles began when the Dolphins wideout criticized the Olympian over comments in 2023 about how U.S. sports leagues should not consider their annual winners “world champions.”
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“Noah Lyles can’t talk anymore after what just happened to him,” Hill told Kay Adams in an earlier interview on her podcast following Lyles’ bronze medal in the 200 meters, where he tested positive for COVID after the race. “For him to act like he’s sick, I think that’s horseradish. So for him to do that and say we’re not world champions in our sport, come on, man. Just talk about what you know, and that’s track.”
Then Hill proposed the challenge after being asked what would happen if the two went head to head in a 50-yard dash.
“I would beat Noah Lyles,” Hill said. “I wouldn’t beat him by much, but I would beat Noah Lyles.”
Below are Lyles’ comments from Wednesday.
The Olympic sprinter said he would beat Hill in a shorter race, but Lyles made it clear it had to be in the 100 meters, nothing else.
“Again, I’m not here to do gimmicks,” Lyles told NBC News. “If you’re going to challenge me, the fastest man in the world, you’re going to challenge him in his event.”
In a previous interview on the “Nightcap” podcast with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, Lyles pointed to another NFL wide receiver known for his speed who is trying to earn a spot in the Olympics: DK Metcalf of the Seahawks. Lyles praised Metcalf for trying to prove his speed by racing in the 100 meters in a real event.
“Every time someone showed up fast, he tried to race them. If he really wanted to race people, he would have shown up as DK Metcalf,” Lyles said. “That guy (Hill) dodges smoke. I don’t have time for that. He challenges me. We race in the 100, we can race then. If he’s really serious about it. If he’s really serious about it, and I’m not talking about you, I’m just talking on the Internet … you’ll see me at the track.”
In May 2021, Metcalf ran the 100-meter dash in 10.36 seconds at the USATF Golden Games and Distance Open in Walnut, California. It resulted in a ninth-place finish in his heat, with his time being the third-slowest of the 17 competitors.
To qualify for the Olympic qualifications, Metcalf needed a time of 10.05 seconds, with an allowed tailwind of up to two meters per second.
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