In an era where sports thrive on drama, characters and the stories that connect audiences to champions and challengers alike, Noah Lyles, the reigning Olympic 100m champion, believes track and field hasn't fully tapped into the potential of storytelling yet.
Speaking about the role of rivalries in propelling athletics forward, the American sprinter cut through the usual clichés during an interview with Olympics.com.
"I think that if a rivalry is cared for in the correct manner, then yes, it can be good," Lyles said. "But calling every competition of an athlete going up against another athlete a rivalry is not the same. There has to be a story. There has to be a purpose. There has to be intent.
"Just the fact that they happen to show up at the same track meet is not a rivalry," the American athlete, a multiple-time world champion across both the 100m and 200m events, emphasised.
It's a critique rooted in Lyles' unfiltered love for the sport. He believes track and field should embrace narrative the way other sports do. Ali vs Frazier wasn't just a fight - it was a boxing saga. Messi vs Ronaldo became a decade-long storyline that split households and football, just as LeBron vs Steph has managed to do to basketball.
Those rivalries mattered because they carried meaning beyond competition, something Lyles feels athletics still struggles to deliver.
"I'd say the Usain Bolt vs Justin Gatlin was probably the biggest, most memorable one (in track and field recently)," Lyles noted. "For a little while, there was the Shaunae (Miller) vs Allyson Felix rivalry... But even with those, they're not really rivalries. They just happened to show up at the same track meets at the end of the year. I don't think they got everything they could have got out of these. They could have been pushed so much more."
Good storytelling, Lyles believes, raises the stakes and invites fans to be more involved.
"When somebody has a dog in the fight, they're more entertained and more willing to participate," Lyles said. "When you have no reason to cheer, you have no reason to care."
The perspective isn't coming from a detached observer. Lyles himself is one of the sport's most charismatic figures, a natural showman who has made his entrances, celebrations and personality a part of the folklore on the tracks.
While track has struggled to build them around its rivalries, the American speedster has personally never shied away from creating theatre around himself.
He doesn't walk into stadiums; he arrives! He runs, he screams, he energises crowds before the gun ever goes off.
But his theatrics are not psychological warfare, nor an effort to unsettle competitors; they are a performance for fans who show up hoping to feel something.
"I do it for myself. This is for me and the audience," he said. "I want everybody to have a good time. I want everybody to be excited when they come and watch me perform.
"When they leave, I want them to say, 'I would have never got that type of energy if I just watched it on TV.' Like, that was amazing. I want to come back for more," he added.
The 28-year-old Noah Lyles hopes he can bring the same energy to the LA 2028 Olympics, where - if he runs - he will be performing in front of his home fans, a prospect he says gives him 'goosebumps'.