Fresh off the plane from Doha, Qatar, after becoming World 200 meter champion, Noah Lyles and his brother Josephus stopped by their former high school, T.C. Williams, to bring Noah’s gold medal back to the place where it all started for them.
Noah, 22, who left his competitors in the dust last week as he raced to gold in 19.83 seconds at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships, and Josephus, 21, who competes professionally in middle distance events, spent time catching up with former coaches and staff and walking the halls reminiscing about the high school relay records they broke.
The brothers had kept their return visit a surprise, spending three hours at T.C. Williams with the track team before heading back to Clairmont, Florida where they now live and train after turning pro straight after high school.
Most of the things I do today are because I learned them in high school,” said Noah.
“I learned visualization in high school. I learned how to prepare days in advance for track meets. So by the time I became pro I already had the skills needed and could just take them along with me into the professional world.”
“We were going down the hall earlier and we saw some of our high school championships. It was really nostalgic. We saw the trophies from the relay races where we broke records in high school. Four years feels like ten years ago.”
Just a few years ago, the two brothers were a familiar face in the halls of T.C. and on the track at the Parker-Gray stadium with track coach Mike Hughes and sprint coach Rashawn Jackson. Now both Noah and Josephus are preparing for the Olympics.
It’s strange walking down the hallways and seeing all the kids taking pictures of you. I mean, I used to be that kid three years ago. Now, even three, four years from the Olympics we are getting ready for it. That’s the big world stage,” said Josephus.
Noah let on that he will be competing in both the 100 meter and the 200 meter races in the Olympics, while Josephus is aiming to represent the United States in the middle distance races.
We will be cheering them on all the way!