Noah Lyles revels in richest contract in track and field since Usain Bolt

Noah Lyles // @WorldAthletics

ATHLETICS Noah Lyles revels in richest contract in track and field since Usain Bolt

Joel Omotto 15:07 - 27.02.2024

American sprinter Noah Lyles is in line for a major windfall after signing a multi-million-dollar contract extension with adidas which makes it the richest athletics deal since Usain Bolt.

Multiple world champion Noah Lyles has inked a multi-million-dollar contract extension with shoe maker adidas which extends their partnership up to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angles.

His management Global Athletics and Marketing, Inc said “the agreement involves extensive commitments both on and off the track and is the richest contract in the sport of track and field since the retirement of Usain Bolt.”

While details of the contract have not been revealed, Lyles, who has been an adidas athlete since turning pro as a high schooler following the 2016 US Olympic Track and Field Trials when he finished fourth, can expect to reap more as he starts turning his sprints career lucrative.

“When I first signed with adidas in 2016 along with my brother, Josephus, that was like a dream come true for us. And today is just a continuation of that childhood dream,” Lyles said of the contract extension.

“Adidas is not only taking care of me and my family at a level I could only imagine, but they understand me and my vision – not only do I want to achieve all I can in this sport both on and off the track, but I want to make real change and improvements in the sport and how it’s run for the generations that come after me. That is what drives me.”

Lyles will now look forward to a busy 2024 season that starts proper with the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland this weekend, heading there as the hot favourite given he has the fastest time of the year of 6.43 set in the 60m at the US Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico a week ago.

Looking at recent athletics contracts, Usain Bolt still stands out as the athlete with the most lucrative one after his over $10 million (Ksh1.4 billion) a year deal with PUMA which ended when he retired in 2017.

In 2015, the Toronto Star reported that Andre De Grasse signed the most lucrative initial contract in track and field with his $11.25 million (Ksh1.6 billion) deal with PUMA.

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