Noah Lyles is living the dream. But dreaming in public comes at a cost. The gold medals are flashy, the applause deafening, and the accolades endless. After conquering the 100m at the Paris Olympics and clutching bronze in the 200m with COVID-19 still in his system, the world called him unstoppable. But while the cameras capture his triumphs, they miss something else. The constant hum of scrutiny. He’s not just running races; he’s running from the weight of public perception. To the world, he’s a showman, a star. But to himself? A man balancing between honesty and image, freedom and judgment.In a raw moment during a recent conversation with Cam Newton, Lyles peeled back the curtain. When asked how he deals with being under constant public gaze and whether he ever feels like censoring himself, he didn’t dodge the topic. “It’s a little bit of both,” he said, hinting at the tightrope he walks. Lyles admitted he has ADHD, which adds an unpredictable layer to how he communicates. That unpredictability isn’t just a quirk. It’s something he feels makes him a target for criticism. “It’s just easy to spot,” Lyles said with a knowing smile, referring to recognizing the signs in others and himself. Now, Lyles knows he talks in loops, darting from one thought to another, sometimes too freely. He’s aware that his openness might be misunderstood. But still, there’s a tension within him: Should he filter himself to protect his image or speak his truth and risk backlash? The answer isn’t simple. “Some people…they just want to stay on this topic for a while,” he explained, describing how his mind jumps from stories about breakfast to mall trips to movies. That spontaneity, while natural to him, often clashes with the public’s craving for control and consistency. It’s in those mental spirals that Lyles feels the most seen but also the most judged. And judgment has followed him like a shadow. Social media and headlines have painted him as cocky, arrogant, and even narcissistic. But behind that bold exterior is someone who never wanted the spotlight to define him. He’s a sprinter, not a performer. Yet he’s forced to constantly calculate the cost of every word. The weight of being misunderstood eats at him, not because he doubts himself, but because he knows how easily the public twists what they don’t understand. For Lyles, every interview is a balancing act between clarity and chaos. Yet, despite all this, Lyles refuses to let fear shape his voice. He won’t pretend to be someone else to fit a box that was never made for him. His truth is messy, spontaneous, and beautifully human. Whether he’s tracing childhood memories or reacting in the moment, he does it his way. That rawness might get him in trouble, but it’s also what sets him apart. Noah Lyles isn’t trying to be perfect. He’s trying to be real. And in a world built on masks, that’s the boldest race he’s ever run.How Noah Lyles faces the fire of criticism and turns it into fuel for successFor someone constantly under the spotlight, Noah Lyles has learned to navigate the noise. The Olympic sprinting star knows that public scrutiny is part of the package, but what he reveals about how it affects him is raw, real, and refreshingly unfiltered. “Of course, in good and bad ways,” he says when asked if criticism has impacted his mental state. Lyles doesn’t pretend to be immune. He recalls how a single, cutting comment, “I bet you cry at night,” lodged itself deeper than expected. “I don’t know why it got me, but it got me,” he admitted. For all the positive feedback and wins, it sometimes takes just one anonymous jab to shake your armor. Lyles reflects on the psychology behind such cruelty. “This is probably somebody who ain’t got nothing to do with their life… because they are bored, because they are not excited… So they got to go and find something entertaining… and then feel like they’re attached to it somehow.”Still, there’s fire behind the frustration. Lyles knows how to weaponize doubt. “You can hear those comments and be like, I ain’t going to do it? Bet. This is the person who’s going to beat me? Bet. Bet. And I’mma use that.” The sting of skepticism can fuel the next sprint, the next finish line. And in the end, his response isn’t revenge, but perspective. “I’mma pray for them.” That’s not just grace under pressure. That’s Lyles turning pain into purpose.The post Facing Scrutiny From Critics, Noah Lyles Reveals Frustrations Against Constant Battle with Backlash appeared first on EssentiallySports.