If thirst for attention were an Olympic event, there’d be a photo finish between Tyreek Hill and Noah Lyles

Tyreek Hill delivered the line so calmly, with such a straight face that you would think the statement was a matter of fact, and not of spotlight-seeking delusion.

“I could beat Noah Lyles,” said Hill, nicknamed “Cheetah,” holder of the highly unofficial title of NFL’s Fastest Man, in a post-practice interview with the Up and Adams podcast.

Lyles, of course, just won Olympic 100-metre gold in 9.79 seconds. It’s his second consecutive global title at that distance, which buys him 12 more months with the equally unofficial but much more measurable title, World’s Fastest Man. So the idea of the Miami Dolphins receiver defeating Lyles seems a step beyond far fetched, unless Hill were referring to wrestling or checkers or UNO.

Hill quickly clarified that he meant in a race. 

These days, even as misinformation brokers flood the internet with bad-faith sludge, journalists need to be careful about calling people liars. “Liar” implies that the speaker knows something isn’t true but says it anyway, intending to mislead. But sometimes that person is simply misinformed, or genuinely believes what they’re saying, even if it’s false. 

Elly De La Cruz might not be lying, technically, if he says he can outrun the Olympic champ. He just might not know any better because he’s not a track star, and doesn’t know first-hand how near impossible it is to crack the 9.80-second barrier. But Hill is an all-American NCAA sprinter, and should know just how wide the gap is between winning the Big 12 and earning an Olympic title – which is to say, he knows better.

And he knows enough about how the media work to pick the right time and target for his latest viral sound byte. 

Lyles’ profile is higher than ever. He followed up a season as a main character in a Netflix docuseries with a dramatic win in the Olympic 100 metres. He backed up that performance with a bronze in the 200, then revealed he had run the race while sick with COVID-19. That move was either brave (if you ask Lyles) or selfish (if you ask me), but made headlines either way.

If Hill wanted to generate discussion about credible hypotheticals, he’d talk about whether he could have qualified for U.S. Olympic Trials. But that doesn’t get you aggregated; claiming you’re faster than the world’s fastest man search engine optimizes both your name and your bold claim.

WATCH | CBC Sports’ Morgan Campbell discusses Lyles racing after positive COVID test:

‘Selfish and reckless’: CBC Senior Contributor Morgan Campbell on Noah Lyles’s COVID-19 announcement

CBC Senior Contributor Morgan Campbell sums up Athletics at Paris 2024 with CBC’s Dale Manucdoc, and reacts to American sprinter competing in the men’s 200 metres with COVID-19.

Any footrace between them would end with Hill choking on Lyles’ exhaust. Serious people don’t even debate it. But in a publicity stunt competition, Hill and Lyles are both peers and peerless. And their back-and-forth is another timely reminder for media members to scrutinize outrageous claims, because we serve our audiences better, and help everyone hop off the pointless debate hamster wheel, when we can separate truth from tall tales.

Hill, of course, could settle this particular debate in less than 11 seconds if he would line up against Lyles. It can’t be that hard to arrange. If Hill is willing to race hobbyists for free – like he did in winning the 60 at the U.S. Masters Championships last year – an appearance fee might lure him into a pro track meet. He could also prevail upon Adidas, which sponsors him and Lyles, to save him a lane at the Atlanta City Games, the city track meet that the apparel brand underwrites.

Different speeds

Except Hill already knows he and Lyles are in different leagues, speed-wise.

Lyles won the Olympic 100m in a personal-best 9.79 seconds. Hill’s PB, established in 2012, is 10.19 seconds, which would have tied him for 34th place in Paris. The 200m was Hill’s better event – he ran 20.14 seconds as a high school senior. But it’s Lyles’ specialty, too. His 19.31 personal best is also an American record.

Hill knows all this, just like he knows the strength of his “Cheetah” persona rests on the perception that he’s the world’s fastest human being. He might collect an appearance fee for putting that speed to the test against Lyles, but why risk the brand equity? For Hill, the best marketing is putting up numbers in the NFL, and making bold boasts about his speed that he doesn’t intend to back up.

Lyles, in contrast, doesn’t mind losing occasionally. 

He lost to Christan Coleman indoors in March, and to Oblique Seville outdoors in June. Last week he lost to Letsile Tebogo in the Olympic 200m final, and had barely left the track before revealing that he raced while COVID positive. Instantly, the story shifted from Tebogo’s flawless execution to Lyles’ courage. In his telling, he deserved applause for competing against world-class opponents and a potentially debilitating virus.

WATCH | Lyles wins men’s Olympic 100-metre gold at Paris Games:

Noah Lyles roars to 100m gold at the world championships

The American sprinter ran a 9.83 to tie the fastest 100-metre time of the season.

I’ll take Lyles at his word that he was sick, but his pre-race preening and post-Olympic partying have given skeptics plenty of material to construct an alternate story. Hill, for his part, certainly thinks Lyles concocted the COVID story to keep us from discussing how Tebogo dusted him. 

Tebogo’s 19.46 set a new personal best and national record at 200m, and he rebounded from his mothers death in May to claim Botswana’s first Olympic gold medal in August. Instead of letting that moment breathe, Lyles hijacked it with his COVID revelation. Tebogo won the race, but Lyles won the news cycle.

Hill decided to ride the rising tide of Lyles’ mainstream popularity, choosing the Olympic afterglow to issue a bogus claim that he could have made last week, last month, or last year. It’s untrue either way, but it gets more traction during that brief period when casual fans still remember Olympians’ names.

Smart media relations plays by both guys. Cynical, but on brand for a pair of athletes who need the spotlight like the rest of us need food and water. In a race, Lyles beats Hill by several strides. But if thirst for attention were an Olympic event, we’d have a photo finish.