Olympic 100m gold medalist Noah Lyles is ending his track season early due to injury.
“It’s been kind of complicated,” Lyles said. “We thought it was very simple. Unfortunately, after running at USAs (in late July), we found out that I had a small strain, not very serious, and the rehab that we were putting together was going extremely well. Unfortunately, because of the strain, it caused some other things to flare up, and it’s made it hard for me to continue practicing. We’ve decided that we’ll just end the season here, get ready for 2027, 2028, which are going to be humongous years.”
Season update, See you in Budapest pic.twitter.com/1zMerhPN2H
— Noah Lyles, OLY (@LylesNoah) September 4, 2026
In his most recent race on July 26, Lyles pulled up early in the USATF Outdoor Championships 200m final with what he called at the time “somewhat of a cramp” in his hamstring.
Lyles will miss next weekend’s World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, the biggest international meet of 2026.
He qualified to race the 100m and the 200m at that meet, which gathers 2024 Olympic gold medalists, 2025 World champions, 2026 Diamond League champions and the world’s other highest-ranked athletes.
Lyles still plans to be in attendance at the Ultimate Championship.
Lyles is the world’s fastest man in the 100m this year, having matched his personal best of 9.79 from the 2024 Olympics to win the U.S. title on July 24.
Lyles’ best 200m time in 2026 is 19.91, ranking him 12th in the world this year, from limited action. He ran the 19.91 early in the season in April, months before athletes typically peak, and did not race the 200m at any other outdoor meets before the national championships.
In 2025, Lyles came back from a spring ankle injury to win a fourth consecutive 200m title at the biennial World Championships to match Usain Bolt’s record. He also earned bronze in the 100m at worlds behind Jamaicans Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson.
