The presence of Noah Lyles in the silver-medal-winning 4×400 m relay at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Sunday didn’t go down well with his compatriot Fred Kerley, world champion in the 100m in 2022.

Noah Lyles, runner-up in the 60 m world indoor championships this weekend in Glasgow, also took part in the 4×400 m final on Sunday, as part of the American relay that took silver behind Belgium. The third relay runner, who is also a three-time 2023 world champion (100 m, 200 m and 4×100 m), has made no secret in recent weeks of his desire to join the 4×400 m relay at the Paris Olympics, in the hunt for a formidable quadruple.

But, his presence in the US relay in Glasgow didn’t go unnoticed by one of his rivals on the home straight, Fred Kerley, world 100 m champion in Eugene in 2022, and not exactly close to Lyles. In a series of tweets, Kerley expressed his astonishment at the actions of the US Athletics Federation (USATF), suggesting that he hadn’t been afforded similar consideration when he was aiming to take part in the 4×400 m in recent years. Clearly, he doesn’t like this indoor “rehearsal” before the Olympics.

“You’re playing favorites like children, you’re puppets, you’re yes-men,” he told USATF on X.

Asked about Kerley in the mixed zone in Glasgow, Noah Lyles replied rather curtly. “I told the coaches after the 60m that I was available if needed for the relay, that I’d be ready. They called me this lunchtime. Fred Kerley? He could be here, but he’s not. If he’s not happy, let him come and run here. I’m the new guy in this relay, I wanted to show that I could be ready and in shape, and I want to show the same thing in the final in Paris.”

This post is originally from L’Équipe