Olympics-Athletics-Briton Christie says Lyles' brash comments could backfire

By Lori Ewing

PARIS (Reuters) - British sprinting great Linford Christie believes Noah Lyles would be better to simply let his running speak for itself, saying the American's brash comments are adding fuel to the flames of his rivals.

The abundantly confident Lyles is not shy about his goal of capturing four gold medals at the Paris Olympics, and has angered rivals with his barbs, including British sprinter Zharnel Hughes.

"(Lyles) is saying a few things that people don't like," Christie said Saturday at a media event at Puma House. "You never upset your opponent because it gives them 10 percent more adrenaline to beat him.

"It's never a good idea, because people will say, 'Well, I don't care if I come last as long as I'm in front of you.'

"He's putting pressure on himself and you don't need pressure, you just need to run and be relaxed. But, you know, the good thing about him he's crazy enough to do it too."

The 27-year-old Lyles won gold in the 100 metres, 200 and 4x100 relay at last year's world championships and has said he would love to be a part of USA's 4x400 relay team in Paris to potentially win four golds.

Hughes, a four-times European champion who is competing in Paris, recently hit back at Lyles for a put-down that surfaced in the Netflix series "Sprint."

Lyles said of Hughes: "If you don't have main character energy, track and field isn't for you."

Asked recently about his reaction, Hughes said: "I was like: 'This guy, he just needs to shut up.'"

Christie, the 100m gold medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said Lyles' blunt talk could backfire.

"(Canada's reigning Olympic 200 champion) Andre De Grasse is quiet, he's not saying anything, the other guys are quiet. Jamaicans are quiet," Christie said.

"I think it's going to come down to the mind. Noah plays really good mind games and he pulls everybody out of the zone."

While Lyles is considered heir apparent to Jamaica's Usain Bolt, nobody has threatened Bolt's 100m world record of 9.58 seconds. Christie does not think they will anytime soon.

"It's a phenomenal record, it's going to be around a long time," said the 64-year-old. "I'm not saying because it's the limit of how fast people can run because I think people will run faster. But this year, I don't think so."

Lyles, who is stronger over 200, ran a career-best 9.81 at last week's Diamond League, third fastest in the world this year. Kishane Thompson of Jamaica is quickest at 9.77.

(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)