Noah Lyles divides opinion but he is great for future of athletics

American sprinter is unafraid to set high expectations – he excelled when it mattered most, running his fastest-ever 100m race to claim gold

The Paris Olympic Games were incredible. The atmosphere was amazing and every venue was full; there was a real buzz of excitement. Hopefully a lot of young kids were watching, seeing sports they do not see very often and believing they can go on and be part of something like this amazing event.
You need great personalities to get the public interested in athletics and be aware of who everyone is, and Noah Lyles is a great personality for the sport. He has a strong persona and that divides people’s opinions. Some people think he is too much, very vocal and very showy, but he is great for the sport and showcases it in a different way.
Letsile Tebogo, who won the 200 metres, is a very different personality but he is still winning medals and doing amazing things. It is about being true to who they are. Not everyone has to have a big personality like Noah, but he has really got people watching, whether they like his showmanship or not.
Keely Hodgkinson is another great personality and her gold medal is massive for athletics. She brings a lot of people into the sport, not just young kids who want to emulate what she’s doing but new audiences because she has a strong personality and delivers on the track.
I worked with Michael Johnson for the BBC during the Olympics and he is also hoping to get people racing more frequently by creating a Grand Slam Track league. It is about having more points in the season where you bring the big names together to race more often. Take the women’s 400 metres hurdles in Paris – it was the first time Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol had raced each other for such a long time.
Michael wants to have more consistent points throughout the season where we see the best compete. It is about trying to evolve the sport. His plan is a little controversial because it is just track events and I would love to see that developed in the future because certain field events are incredible too, but what he is trying to create is a great idea for the sport.
We need to have more high-profile events. Athletics drums up all the excitement around the Olympics and then the next big event is not until the World Championships in September next year. It is good to have touch points throughout the season where the great athletes race and big rivalries happen so the sport is more present in the public eye.
Lots of things are starting to happen now to grow athletics – the documentary on Netflix, Michael’s series… The sport has realised it needs to do more to celebrate the amazing athletes who are doing incredible things on the track. It is about trying to evolve the sport in a positive way and get more eyes on it, new fans, and that is really good.
Looking at GB’s performances in Paris, we got the most medals in athletics since 1984 with 10. That is amazing. A lot of money and energy and time has been put into the relays and they all brought back medals.
It was brilliant to see Katarina Johnson-Thompson finally get an Olympic medal. She has been on such a journey, especially at Olympic level. She has spoken about the disappointments she has had at the Games and there was a worry that would become something she could not get past, but her performances were so good across all the events. 
It was her fourth Olympics and she is still doing personal bests. She is so competitive and technically strong, going up against Nafi Thiam, and she was so close to gold.
Of course, we would have loved another gold or two – and we were very nearly there in some of the finals. It could be the start of something great with athletes across the board, although it would be good to see more British representation in the field events.
The near-misses show just how hard it is at the Olympic Games. You can have the greatest season but to win an Olympic gold medal is so hard. Josh Kerr was so close and he will go away and be even more focused; his appetite for gold will become even greater. Kat has said if she is still competitive she wants to continue and she has that appetite to go for gold. 
Molly Caudery had disappointment in qualifying for the pole vault but she will want to come back and not make the same mistake. Matt Hudson-Smith was so close in the 400 metres, Quincy Hall just came out of nowhere like a train in those last 20 metres and there was still not a lot in it. All four of them will continue pushing for medals so we’re in a good place and it is about keeping the momentum going. Hopefully we will see more athletes turn silver into gold in 2028, like Keely did in Paris.
My Olympics highlights? Obviously Keely winning gold from a GB perspective – that was amazing. I also loved watching Sydney; I’ve not seen her competing very often and she is such a focused and determined athlete. She puts so much distance between herself and the rest of the field, even when up against someone like Femke Bol, who is an incredible athlete. Sydney is at a completely different level and breaking world records. 
She also won gold in the 4x400m relay and is a phenomenal athlete so she could do other events. It was also amazing to see Katy Marchant win gold in the cycling. I used to train with her and she is fantastic.