The highly anticipated race between Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill and Team USA sprinter Noah Lyles will not be taking place after initial discussions.
In February, both parties told PEOPLE that the race would be organized. While the name and setting were not immediately revealed, the pair was meant to take the track before Lyles competes in July’s USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the London Diamond League event.
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Speaking at the Sport Beach event in Cannes, France, Lyles revealed that they targeted a major event in New York City this weekend. Unfortunately, the plans failed to materialize due to several unknown reasons.
“We were very deep into creating the event. In fact, it was supposed to happen this weekend,” Lyles said, via the New York Post. “Unfortunately, there were some things, complications, personal reasons that it just didn’t come to pass, but we were full on.
“We were gonna have a big event, we were going to shut down New York Times Square and everything, we were gonna have all the billboards for the event, it was going to be a lot of fun.”
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Hill and Lyles, respectively, hinted at either a 40-meter or 100-meter dash — the latter of which Lyles won at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The pair also traded verbal jabs in interviews, which led to the race being planned.
On Friday, Hill competed in a track meet and won the 100-meter dash in 10.15 seconds. While the NFL star posted a good time, he was much slower than Lyles, who covered the distance in 9.79 seconds at the Olympics.
With Lyles set for competition at the end of July and NFL teams preparing for the upcoming season, the race is unlikely to be rescheduled this year. Hill heads into his fourth season with the Dolphins after having screws surgically removed from his wrist in May. Still, he’s been present for Dolphins OTAs and minicamp, admitting he does not deserve to be voted as the team captain.
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“I gotta prove myself,” Hill said. “This OTAs, training camp, I gotta prove myself. I gotta show up different. The mindset gotta be different. I don’t feel like I deserve it. And if I didn’t get it, I wouldn’t dwell on it. I wouldn’t sweat it. Because I put myself in that position.”
Hill caught 81 passes for 959 yards and six touchdowns last season as the Dolphins finished with an 8-9 record.
