Noah Lyles Dedicated History-Making Gold Medal Win To Late High School Coach

When Noah Lyles won the men’s 100-meter final at the Paris Olympics, ending a 20-year gold medal drought for Team USA in the event, he was thinking about his late high school coach. 

Lyles dedicated his Olympic victory to Rashawn Jackson, his track coach at Alexandria City High School, in Alexandria, Virginia, who died just over a month ago.

Speaking with NBC reporters following Sunday’s photo finish, the 27-year-old said he thought about Jackson on the back stretch of the race.

“I was like ‘this one is for you, man,’” Lyles recalled of the man that pushed him to start running the event in high school.

“You know I thought he was going to be here to see it, I’ll be honest,” he continued, becoming visibly emotional. “But I know that he’s watching. I really thought that he was going to be here in the flesh because he believed that I was going to be a 100 meter runner just as much as a 200 meter runner.” 

Jackson died shortly after Lyles qualified for the 2024 Olympics in June. Lyles shared a heartfelt message to his late coach on Twitter following the news.

“Hey coach, We did it. We reached the top!” he wrote alongside photos of the two of them. “I always thought that you would be here to see when I reached the peak though. I guess you will have to know you are watching from heaven. I’m so glad our paths crossed because [I don’t know] who I would be if they didn’t. I Love you man. RIP.” 

Lyles, widely touted as the fastest man alive, will run his signature race, the 200 meter, on Thursday. He hasn’t lost that race since finishing third at the Tokyo Games three years ago.

We know Jackson will be watching.