The world’s fastest man is looking to cash in on his profile by getting his own brand of sneakers, á la Michael Jordan and other basketball players who made fortunes from such footwear branding.
Noah Lyles – he of the painted nails and white braids – signed a lucrative contract extension with Adidas before the Olympics, reportedly the richest in track and field since Usain Bolt’s deal with Puma.
And the new 100m gold medallist didn’t waste time in putting it out there that he wanted to follow basketballers and footballers into the financial spin-off garnered from footwear.
“I want my own shoe. I want a sneaker ... ain’t no money in spikes. Even Michael Johnson didn’t have a sneaker,” said Lyles.
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And World Athletics president Seb Coe, the two-time Olympic champion, asserted Lyle’s emergence as the face of athletics was to be welcomed: “He is recognising that he is beginning to transcend the sport, which is really what we want them all to do.”
Eau no
Maybe that old Bagatelle ditty about that summer in Dublin and how the Liffey stank like hell could be converted into one about the Seine, the ongoing issue about E.coli in the river proving about as hard to master as a gymnastic Produnova move.
For all of the more than €1.5 billion pumped into finding a solution, the absence of the Belgian team for the mixed relay triathlon only served to keep the polluted waterway in the news for the wrong reason.
Claire Michel was hospitalised for four days after competing in the women’s triathlon last week and newspaper De Standaard reported the team’s decision not to participate was due to her suffering from E.coli infection.
The race was won by Germany, with anchor leg Laura Lindemaan outsprinting the USA into silver and Great Britain into bronze, those medals only decided on a photo-finish.
Diabolical games
You might have noticed there are no Russian athletes in any of track and field disciplines, unlike in some other sports disciplines where a number were allowed compete as neutral competitors once they proved they’d no connection with the military.
World Athletics enforced a ban on Russian athletes following the invasion of Ukraine, hence the likes of high jumper Mariya Lasitskene – gold medallist in Tokyo – are among those left far removed from events in Paris.
Not that she can see anything of what’s going on at home in Moscow, with no coverage on Russian television and media outlets pouring scorn on the Games. The Moskovsky Komsomolets tabloid has called Paris 2024 “The Games of Satan” and another newspaper Argumenty I Fakty called them “The Olympics of hell.”
Sour grapes, perhaps?
Hell ain’t a bad place to be for Dara Ó Briain
Comedian Dara Ó Briain – his Team Ireland T-shirt et al – certainly seemed to enjoy his Olympics, posting image after image to his 2.5 million followers on X ... many of them, funnily enough, from places where Ireland won medals.
The rowing. The boxing. The gymnastics.
In fairness, he did break free of his Irish loyalty to also take in volleyball (both the beach and the original versions) and archery among others.
Ó Briain’s final visit was to the Stade de France for the athletics on Sunday night, after which he posted a photo with the Tricolour (Irish, not French) draped over his shoulders. “Hope I haven’t bored anyone with my constant tweeting ... Thank you Paris 2024, it has been merveillieux!”
Next stop for Ó Briain, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for more fun and games.
In Numbers: 11
Simone Biles brought her career total of Olympic medals to 11 – seven gold, two silver and two bronze – when finishing runner-up to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in the women’s floor exercise. In these Games, Biles picked up three gold medals in the vault, all-around and team events, and a silver in floor (her final event). She’d earlier missed out on a medal on the balance beam.
In Words
“I dreamed. I spoke about the dream. I carried on the dream. And it was the moment I achieved the dream. Now I have nothing to be scared of.” – South Korea’s An Se-young after beating He Bingiiao of China in the women’s singles badminton final.
