(Reuters) – American sprinter Noah Lyles said he feels no pressure coming into this weekend’s season-ending meet in Eugene, Oregon, and sees it instead as a chance to celebrate on home soil the three gold medals he won at last month’s World Championships in Budapest.
Lyles earlier this month said he was ending his season after becoming the first male athlete since Jamaican Usain Bolt to win gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. He later changed his mind, however, saying he still had “one more in me.”
“Every meet that happens after world championships I see almost as a victory lap,” Lyles told reporters ahead of the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League final, where he will compete in the 100m on Saturday.
“A lot of people will get tired and they don’t really want to go to track meets and I’m like, it doesn’t matter if you win or lose now because you already won world championships. Nobody can take that from you.”
The 26-year-old said he remembers coming to the Prefontaine Classic after the Tokyo Olympics and his mom telling him about a girl in the stands who was calling out for two-time Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
“She was so distraught that Sydney wasn’t there, and I guess I didn’t realize how people want to see you after the moment happens,” he said.
“We’ve got to treat this like our victory parade, like when other teams go back to their city and they celebrate.
“This is our celebration.”
The Prefontaine Classic runs Sept. 16-17 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles;editing by Diane Craft)
