Usain Bolt urged Noah Lyles to ‘stop acting’ after the USA sprinting star once joked he didn’t know who he was.
Lyles sealed his place in history at the Paris 2024 Olympics after clinching the 100m gold medal in a record-breaking final.
GettyBolt dominated sprinting before retiring in 2017[/caption]
But he still has some way to match Bolt‘s legendary achievements having scooped eight Olympic gold medals, while also holding the title as the world’s fastest man.
While the Jamaican is a household name, he appears to have been left irked by a cheeky jibe from Lyles.
Speaking on the Ready, Set, Go podcast about Lyles, he demanded that the 27-year-old must respect him.
He told his ex-rival Justin Gatlin: “I remember when he [Lyles] just came out and he said, ‘Usain Bolt who?’, I was like, ‘Bro, stop it.’
“I normally don’t say anything, but I was like, ‘If you don’t know who Usain Bolt is you’re in the wrong sport.’
“So stop acting. Put some respect on my name.
“Every time he talks he says he wants to break my record, so stop it.
“He said he didn’t mean it like that, but I respect everybody and understand you’ve got to aim high and you want to break records.
“But I would never disrespect anyone [these sprinters].
“These are the guys who set the platform for you to come down and add to it to be better.
GettyLyles won Olympic gold in the 100m last summer and picked up bronze in the 200m[/caption]
“I would never say anything bad about these guys before me because they’re the guys who really built the platform and then we add to it, make it greater and compete.”
Though Bolt did admit that if he had to choose a dream 100m line-up, Lyles would make the cut.
However he did quip that is only because he would love to emerge victorious over him.
He remarked: “Let’s give Lyles a spot just because I’d love to race against him. I’d love to beat him.”
Joining himself and Lyles in Bolt’s dream 100m line-up was Gatlin, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, Tyson Gay, Maurice Greene and Ben Johnson.
Bolt won six individual Olympic golds across 100m and 200m, taking the top spot at Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 to win the double for three consecutive Games.
Despite retiring eight years ago, no-one has been able to eclipse either of Bolt’s records, but Lyles has been very vocal about his ambitions to do just that.
And whilst the 27-year-old is fast, he’s just not Bolt-fast, yet.