Sawt Falasteen - Noah Lyles: from timid school student to track's showman

In those days, there was little sign of the showman of the track that Lyles would become.

The young man spoke little -- but took in everything.

This September, with the summer vacation over at Alexandria City High School in Virginia, enthusiastic voices rang out greeting "Miss Patti" just as Lyles did 14 years earlier as he and his younger brother Josephus walked these corridors.

Now with flecks of grey in her hair, she recalled to AFP that Lyles was "a lot more reserved than his brother," who would also go on to become a top-class sprinter.

Noah began attending the school, formerly known as T. C. Williams High, at age 14.

His athletic prowess soon became the stuff of legend here. His parents, both high-level college athletes themselves but separated as a couple, constantly pushed him to do more and go faster.

On the track, Lyles excelled. In the classroom, it was a different story. Lyles found it hard to follow the lessons, hampered by dyslexia and ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), and retreated into his shell.

"He was the typical student, a little shy at first, because you have to remember, as a junior he's still trying to find himself as a young man, as a high school student, trying to fit in with what's going on around him," said Leslie A. Jones, who combines teaching English at the school with public speaking and theater classes.

She encouraged Lyles to express himself and she gradually saw his confidence blossom.

“He was an observer. He was looking around him and analyzing everything,” she said.

In one confidence-building exercise, Lyles brought his starting blocks onto the stage of the school's theater, and demonstrated how to set them up.

"He literally taught us how to get in and out of the blocks at the start of a race," Jones recalled.

In another exercise, he 'unlocked' his personality, which at that time was "buried inside him" according to his teacher, and mimed a Michael Jackson song while performing a dance.

It was an early sign of the antics Lyles, who is now 28, would later show in his exuberant entrances onto the track.

His mother, Keisha Caine Bishop, passed on her values to Lyles and his siblings, including her religious beliefs.

"He comes from a great family, a religious family that's grounded in all that is good, and even in high school, his mother approached me to say, 'How's he doing? Is he being a good person?'" recalled Ra Alim Shabazz, who has taught at the school for three decades.

He said Noah was thoughtful and would wait his turn to speak.

"I would always look at his face, and I could see the wheels turning, like he's a thinker and a planner. Everyone else is talking, answering questions and he's just kind of taking it all in. And when he did speak, it was something profound, but it was rare," Shabazz said.

"I think that his shyness was probably connected to him really working hard to overcome his learning disability."

- From calf to bull -

Shabazz says he felt a "special connection" with Lyles that he has tried to maintain.

"I have such a great love and respect for Noah, because he's someone who shared (the) struggle, because he was interested in inspiring other people, and that's the mark of someone that has a superior character."

The global spotlight really began to shine on Lyles when he won the 200m title at the 2014 Youth Olympics in China.

At the same time, Shabazz saw Lyles beginning to overcome his educational difficulties and his marks were improving fast.

"His work was arcing upward. He was more confident... I told him to go to university but in all my 30 years, I've never had someone look me in my eye with so much confidence and say, 'No, I'm going pro in high school.'"

Lyles's gamble paid off -- his first senior world title came in the 200m in Doha in 2019.

Lyles later returned to the school to show the excited students his medals.

It was an emotional moment for Shabazz, who said he stood back to take in the scene.

"I just saw that this calf had become a bull."

V.Said--SF-PST