Noah Lyles cancels highly anticipated race against Tyreek Hill, fans argue over who would win

The much-awaited competition between Noah Lyles and Tyreek Hill will not be happening as it was initially planned after all. Lyles, an Olympic gold medalist, has announced that he is cancelling the race, despite all arrangements being prepared and the race being all set. 

Lyles shared the reason for his cancellation, stating, “We were very deep into creating the event… In fact, it was supposed to happen this weekend. Unfortunately, there were some things, complications, and personal reasons that it just didn’t come to pass, but we were full on. We were going to shut down New York’s Times Square and everything, it was going to be a lot of fun.” 

Lyles and Hill’s rivalry 

Ever since Noah Lyles won the 100-metre gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, he and Tyreek Hill, a Miami Dolphins receiver, have been engaging in trash talk. This has been fueled by Hill’s challenge to race against Lyles in a 50-metre race. 

Given that Lyles called off their competition, Hill took to social media to share his reaction to the news. He posted a meme of Lyles as if retreating to a bush and said in the caption: “.@LylesNoah after seeing me run the 100m last weekend” 

However, the post backlashed as some netizens showed their support for Lyles. One commented, “He ran a 9.78 in the Olympics.” Another user wrote, “He’s disappearing because he realises that you should be competing against high schoolers, not Olympians.”

A two-time high school track champion, Hill recently ran the 100m event in just 10.15 seconds. Though impressive, it was still behind Noah Lyles’ 9.79 seconds —his time when he secured gold at the Paris Olympics. 

In another social media post made by Bleacher Report, it said,  “Noah Lyles has canceled his proposed race with Tyreek Hill in NY’s Times Square due to ‘personal reasons’… Cheetah ran a 10.15 100m last week and trolled Lyles in response to Noah’s ‘Tyreek Could Never’ sign after his 60m run in February 👀”

Some fans sided with Hill, suggesting Lyles backed out because he knew he might lose. One user wrote, “That boy got scared,” while another called Lyles “the most unlikable gold medalist of all time.”

Others defended Lyles, pointing to his Olympic achievements and upcoming commitments. “Noah is an Olympic gold medalist, can we stop with this nonsense lol,” one commenter said. Another added, “He must have tweaked something… the U.S. Championship is coming up August 2nd.”