by Deji Ogeyingbo
Deji’s Doodles: Thompson and Lyles open their season quite early
We are back. Guess it didn’t take long before the track season threw up some headlines. Granted, we are still in the indoor season, but with the Top 2 in the men’s 100m final at the Olympics, we just had to bring out our pen ( well, notepad) and scribble our thoughts on what it meant to the track world.
Kishane Thompson doesn’t leave much to talk about in his first indoor race of the season.
This felt like a masquerade coming out at night. Seeing Kishane Thompson run this early in the season was a shocker to many fans as the Olympic 100m Silver medallist ran the 60m indoors for the first time in a while. There isn’t much to unpack from the race itself, but more from the rationale behind why his coach, Stephen Francis, made the decision for him to travel over 30 hours to Astana in Kazakhstan to compete.
This is the athlete who, despite his vast body mass. And the roar he usually lets out at the beginning of a race will most likely get his opponents to shiver. However, he seems to have a body more fragile than at most top sprinters, do almost everything possible to avoid running indoors; this felt rather bizarre.
🇯🇲Kishane Thompson runs a 6.48 60m into a -2.1 headwindpic.twitter.com/SF7AZiAI23
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) January 18, 2025
Thompson wasn’t flawless, but he was effective. A sluggish start in the heats saw him clock 6.58, yet he still cruised into the final. Under the lights, he roared to the crowd, roared again at the blocks, then powered through the field to claim a well-earned victory.
At the end of the race, he seems to have held his right thigh with a slight grimace on his face, something we have become accustomed to. As much as the fans love to see the very best of athletes compete every week, the dynamics of how Track is structured make it almost impossible, and major championships are the only avenue for that to happen. After Astana, don’t be surprised that the wait to see Thompson race again might be extended.
Cameron Myers was on top of the world in New York.
Cameron Myers isn’t just breaking records—he’s rewriting what’s possible for teenage middle-distance runners. In his first-ever indoor race, the 18-year-old Australian shattered the world U20 mile record, clocking 3:53.12 at the Dr. Sander Invitational in New York.
He didn’t have it easy. Kenya’s Festus Lagat pushed him to the line, but Myers had another gear, edging out the win by 0.37. His 1500m split of 3:37.89 also set a new Oceanian U20 indoor record, adding another milestone to his stacked résumé.
The numbers tell one story. He’s now eighth all-time indoors in Oceania, trailing only legends like John Walker, but the bigger picture is more precise: Myers isn’t just a fast teenager. He’s going to be a serious player on the global stage.
It’s easy to hype young talents who fizzle out before their prime. Myers feels different. His 3:33.26 for 1500m, his 3:50.15 mile outdoors, and now this? That’s not just potential; it’s proof. At 18, he’s already running times that would put veterans on notice.
The sport has seen plenty of young phenoms. Few keep pushing. Myers? He looks like he’s built to last.
Noah Lyles runs a modest time in Gainesville.
Noah Lyles is back, and while it wasn’t flashy, it was efficient. The Olympic 100m champ opened his 2025 season with back-to-back 6.62s at the RADD Invitational in Gainesville—shaking off a slow start, outdueling training partner Udodi Onwuzurike, and handling business in the final.
It’s his first race since Paris, where he won gold in the 100m and bronze in the 200m, and while this wasn’t a statement run, it was a sharp reminder: Lyles knows how to win. Caleb Dean took second in 6.68, Onwuzurike matched his 6.70 from the heats for third, but neither had the finishing power to take him down.
The bigger takeaway? Kishane Thompson, the Olympic silver medalist, ran 6.56 in Kazakhstan hours earlier. Lyles will see that time, nod, and know he has work to do. But it’s early, and Lyles thrives when the lights get brighter. This was just the first page of his 2025 script.
Some fans couldn’t help but stir the pot. “Attention-seeking Noah,” one quipped. “He wasn’t supposed to start until Feb 2nd, lol. He’s only doing it because Kishane is getting all the attention.” Another took it further: “He doesn’t deserve the gold medal.”
But does Noah Lyles care? Not a chance. This wasn’t about proving a point but about getting the gears turning. The 60m was just a tune-up, a pit stop on the way to bigger things. Lyles isn’t here for internet debates. He’s here to win when it matters most.
