Noah Lyles and Other World Champions Yet to Win Olympic Gold Ahead of Paris 2024

• Noah Lyles leads an incredible list of world champions yet to win gold at an Olympics
• Lyles is a triple 200m world champion but only managed a third-place finish in Tokyo
• Shericka Jackson will also be out to exert her 200m dominance at the Olympic Games

The 2024 Paris Olympics will come with renewed pressure as top stars angle to make their mark at the summer games later this year.

The games will come hot on the heels of the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, where serial winners retained their titles as ‘rookies’ usurped giants in other categories.

But even after retaining their world titles, a couple of players will be under pressure to deliver the first Olympic gold medal of their careers to match their successes over the years at the World Championships.

Jubilation at Oshodi Under Bridge as sensational ‘Area Boy’ defeats Canadian High Commissioner in chess game

Other Sports

World champions yet to win Olympic gold

Sports Brief looks at some top athletes who are world champions but have never won an Olympic gold medal.

5. Danielle Williams - Jamaica: 100m hurdles

Williams surprised many when she beat Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and former world record holder, Keni Harrison to win her second world title, eight years apart.

The 31-year-old was, however, a no-show at the 2016 Rio Games and the rescheduled games in Tokyo, failing to make it to the Jamaican teams on both occasions.

4. Mary Moraa - Kenya: 800m

The women’s 800m remains one of the most intriguing races due to the presence of very formidable opponents: Kenya’s Mary Moraa, America’s Athing Mu, and Great Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson.

Moraa beat them to the title in Budapest and will be seeking to replicate that performance and dethrone Mu in Paris. She failed to make it to the finals in Tokyo, bowing out at the semi-finals.

Ranking the 15 best pole vaulters in the world right now

Other Sports

3. Grant Holloway - America: 110m hurdles

There hasn’t been a dominant hurdler as Grant Holloway has dominated the sport over the years. The American is a three-time World Champion and is unbeaten in the 60m hurdles since 2014.

However, a major stain on the 26-year-old’s CV was a second-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics behind Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment. Holloway will be keen to rectify that in Paris and etch his name as the greatest in the sport.

2. Shericka Jackson - Jamaica: 200m

Shericka Jackson has made the 200m her own in recent years, with her sheer power on the bend and final stretch proving too hot to handle for her competitors.

So good is she that she has been touted as the next possible candidate to break the long-standing Flo-Jo’s world record. She came agonisingly close in Budapest, and this year, it will be her against time yet again.

Who is the best badminton player in the world right now? A top 10 list

Other Sports

But even as she chases the world records, Jackson will be wary of the fact that the only Olympic gold medal she has is in the 4 by 100m. She has nothing to show for in the individual categories after messing up her 200m qualification in Tokyo.

1. Noah Lyles - America: 200m

The man of the moment. Noah Lyles has quickly risen to become the most talked about athlete worldwide.

But amid the talk, the three-time 200m world champion is yet to win an Olympic gold medal. He has already declared his intentions to win four gold medals in Paris, and now that he is majoring in a couple of categories, he might tick that off his bucket list.

Lyles was third at the Tokyo Games in 2020.

Noah Lyles is still the target

Sports Brief has also previously elucidated why Lyles is the man to beat in the 2024 athletics scene.

Who is the best gymnast in the world? A ranked top 10 list

Athletics

After second place at the World Indoor Championships, race analysis shows he will still pose a problem.

The triple world champion from Budapest has laid bare his plans to win four medals in Paris this year.