ライルズが陸上界を再び「ボルトの領域」に 世界陸連会長が評価

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】ワールドアスレティックス（世界陸連）のセバスチャン・コー会長は５日、男子短距離界の新たな五輪王者となったノア・ライルズについて、ウサイン・ボルトの黄金時代以降は見られなかった活力を陸上競技に与えていると評価した。（写真は、パリ五輪陸上男子１００メートル決勝で、金メダル獲得を喜ぶ米国のノア・ライルズ）
　４日に行われたパリ五輪の男子１００メートル決勝でライルズが歴史的な名勝負の末に優勝したこと受け、コー会長は報道陣に対し、カリスマ性のある同選手が今や陸上界にとって「非常に重要」な存在になったと述べた。
　コー会長は、１００メートルと２００メートルの現世界選手権王者であるライルズが、五輪で８個の金メダルを獲得して２０１７年に現役を引退したボルトが去った後の空白を埋める存在になりつつあるとの認識を示し、「自分は比較的中立でいなければならないが、プロモーターの立場であるとすれば、昨夜の彼の勝利は重要だ。なぜなら、彼はウサイン・ボルトの領域にわれわれを戻す物語をつくり出しているからだ」と語った。
　「それは非常に重要だ。なぜなら、彼の顔はよく知られているからだ。われわれは、彼が若い人々の話題に上っている顔だと認識している。スタジアムにいたからとか、陸上競技界に身を置いているから知っているというわけではない」
　コー会長はまた、近代五輪史上最も僅差となる１０００分の５秒差でライルズが１００メートルを制したことがその偉大さを示しているとし、「彼は写真判定で示された最後の瞬間まで一度も先頭に立っていなかったが、勝ってみせた。予選は特に目立たず、準決勝ではまずまずだったが、昨夜は彼が王国を築いた」と述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/08/06-17:05）

World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe said Monday newly crowned Olympic sprint king Noah Lyles has given a boost to the sport not seen since the glory years of Usain Bolt.
Speaking to reporters after Lyles won an epic men's 100m final at the Stade de France on Sunday, Coe said the charismatic American was now hugely important for athletics.
Lyles, 27, revels in his role as one of the great showmen of track and field, and was a central character in the recent Netflix docu-series Sprint.
Coe said reigning 100m and 200m world champion Lyles was on course to fill the void created by the departure of Jamaican icon Bolt, the eight-time Olympic gold medallist who retired in 2017.
I have to be relatively agnostic, but if I'm wearing a promoter's hat, then him winning last night was important because he's now creating a narrative that is heading us back into the Usain Bolt territory, Coe said.
That is hugely important. Because he's a recognizable face. It's a face that I've now got young people talking about. And I know that not just from being in the stadium here or being in the athletics world.
I know what they're talking about. I know friends of mine who've got young kids, they're now talking about Noah Lyles in the same breath as some of the highest profile sports men and women in the world.
- Transcending athletics -
Lyles himself greeted his victory on Sunday with a call for athletics to do a better job of promoting itself.
The Florida-based sprinter also hopes to leverage his Olympic success by securing a Michael Jordan-style sports shoe deal.
I can understand that, Coe said. That's between him and his shoe company. But look, what he is recognizing and reflecting on is that he is beginning to transcend his sport, which is really what we want them all to do.
Coe meanwhile said Lyles' win by just 0.005sec on Sunday -- the narrowest margin of victory in a 100m final in modern Olympic history -- had demonstrated his greatness.
What he has is what all great individuals and great teams in sport have -- when it really matters, they find a way to win, and that's what he did last night, Coe said.
He was never ahead in that race until the last frame of that photo finish, but he found a way. He didn't look outstanding in the first round, and his semi final was okay, but last night was his kingdom.
Coe added that Lyles' enthusiastic embrace of his role as an entertainer was an example to other stars of the sport.
I've always said, performance is your passport, but promotion is everything, Coe said. It's not enough to be just another Olympic champion or another world champion.
He wants to fill a stadium and he also wants to fill a press conference.
And actually, what he has to say is profoundly important for the sport. And there are things he has said that have got us all thinking slightly differently on occasions.