Track and field legend Michael Johnson has fired back at Noah Lyles following the sprinter’s pointed criticism of the recently defunct Grand Slam Track (GST) league.
What began as a debate over the future of the sport has turned personal, with Johnson openly questioning Lyles’ motivations and credibility.
The friction traces back to last year when Noah Lyles broke Johnson’s long-standing U.S. Olympic Trials record in the men’s 200m, clocking 19.53 seconds. Since then, Lyles has emerged as one of track and field’s most outspoken figures, and in recent months, much of his commentary has targeted Johnson’s ambitious GST project.
As reported by Chase Athletics in March, Lyles questioned the league’s business model, financial sustainability, and lack of mainstream appeal.
“Money is not the thing that’s going to drive me every time,” Lyles said.
His concerns intensified when GST folded prematurely, canceling its final event in Los Angeles amid financial struggles.
“I’d say my predictions were kind of dead on, unfortunately,” Lyles remarked after the league’s abrupt shutdown.
But Michael Johnson, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and the driving force behind GST, wasn’t about to let those remarks go unanswered. Speaking to Sports Business Journal, Johnson directly addressed Lyles’ commentary.
“Noah does a lot of talking about Grand Slam Track. So let’s just address Noah. Noah’s problem is, according to him, ‘I’m the fastest man in the world.’ If you’ve got to keep trying to explain to people that you’re the fastest because of something you did last year, we are the answer to your problem. You have to keep proving it.”
Johnson illustrated his point using the world of tennis as a comparison.
“Carlos Alcaraz doesn’t have to go around telling everyone he’s the best tennis player because he just beat Jannik Sinner at the French Open. He continues to show it on the court,” Johnson said.
He also offered a broader critique of how the track and field world determines value and status.
“The problem with track has always been that if you rely on one big event every four years to prove that you’re the best, you’re going to have a problem. That’s why the sport is undervalued,” Johnson asserted.
The conversation took a sharper turn when Johnson revisited Lyles’ ongoing frustration about lacking a signature Nike shoe deal.
“Noah has the problem that he has. He’s saying, ‘Why don’t I have my own shoe?’ Because you can’t show value when you’re in an event that only takes place every four years,” Johnson said.
The exchange has reignited a lingering debate about how athletes build legacy and brand value in track and field, a sport often criticized for its limited professional calendar and inconsistent commercial visibility.