In October 2024, the world swooned when Noah Lyles, the ever-charismatic Olympic sprint champion, posted a tender, almost cinematic proposal to Junelle Bromfield on Instagram.
Beneath a soft glow and a giant fluffy pink heart, he held up a sign that read:
“Will you marry me?” The caption? “To My Future Wife, I Will Love You Forever.”
With one click, fans everywhere entered a long-awaited love story, unaware of the immense courage it took to reach that moment.
Before the fairy-tale proposals and wedding plans for spring 2026, Junelle Bromfield was wrestling with a dilemma.
The two first met in 2017, shared a single date in 2018. For four long years, they remained just friends. Behind that distance was a fear Junelle only recently spoke about openly in an interview with Essence.
“I still was not sure. I was afraid of losing our friendship because a lot of people date as friends, and that ruined their friendship,” she admitted.
“But I knew we had chemistry, so I was willing to take a risk.”
It wasn’t hesitation born of uncertainty about Noah’s character, it was precisely because of the depth of their bond that Junelle hesitated. Losing a good friend can sometimes hurt more than a breakup. And for a woman in the high-stakes world of elite athletics, that friendship was sacred.
Noah, however, wasn’t one to rush or pressure. He offered patience, understanding, and a kind of steady presence that gave Junelle room to navigate her emotions without fear. Together, they created what they called “3-month trials”, informal relationship checkpoints where they would assess how they felt, not to test each other but to nurture their connection intentionally.
“It made me feel comfortable taking a risk,” Junelle reflected.
But love stories, especially those in the public eye, rarely unfold without challenges. In 2023, Noah unintentionally ignited controversy when, while addressing locker room dynamics in track and field, he mentioned hearing stories from Junelle.
What was meant as a candid glimpse into their relationship turned into an online firestorm. Jamaican track fans, fiercely protective of their own, turned on Junelle with a flurry of backlash. She was accused of being a “traitor” and a “backstabber”, all for having private conversations within a relationship.
For Junelle, it was a painful, isolating experience.
“I have been getting cyberbullied for weeks and when it gets talked about, I’m a liar because no Jamaican was coming for my features,” she confessed in an emotional instagram post.
And in that dark moment, Noah showed exactly why he had earned her trust. He stood by her publicly, leaving a tender comment that read, “Baby, you are and will always be an inspiration to all little girls feeling this exact way.”
Later, in a People interview, Noah reaffirmed their bond beyond the scrutiny.
“We’re both Olympic medalists, we’re both two-time Olympians, we’ve been to multiple world championships together. And even though our journeys are different, we still are fighters and we have a lot of the same qualities.”
Two fighters, once doubted and misunderstood, now show up for themselves, and each other, proving their resilience daily.
