All About Noah Lyles' Parents, Keisha Caine Bishop and Kevin Lyles (2024)

Noah Lyles, a top sprinter on Team USA, comes from a family of athletes, with both his parents, Keisha Caine Bishop and Kevin Lyles, being former track stars.

Raised in Alexandria, Va., alongside sister Abby and his brother Josephus (also an accomplished sprinter), Noah grew up in a family deeply rooted in love of the sport.

“To them, making the Olympics was like getting a driver's license because they have been raised around so many track and field Olympians,” Keisha told Today in June 2024.

Noah is competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but it’s not his first time on Team USA. Noah also went to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he took home a bronze medal in the 200m race. Still, it was less than the athlete aimed for.

“He was so heartbroken,” Keisha told Today. “He worked so hard for this, and you get one shot.”

From their own track achievements to their dedication to nurturing Noah's talent, here’s everything to know about Noah Lyles' parents, Keisha Caine Bishop and Kevin Lyles.

They met in college

Keisha and Kevin met at Seton Hall University in the 1990s, where they were both standout athletes in track and field. Off the track, Keisha studied political science and Spanish. Both Keisha and Kevin graduated in 1995 and married not long after.

“Their children are probably going to be very fast people,” John Moon, Seton Hall track coach, said in 1995, per the Asbury Park Press.

Keisha and Kevin are former track athletes

During their time at college, Keisha and Kevin thrived in track and field, both setting records and taking home multiple wins. Keisha was a two-time NCAA champion with the women’s 4x400 relay team, 9-tim Big East Conference Champion and a 10-time All-American. Meanwhile, Kevin was named the 1993 Big East Indoor Championship's Most Outstanding Track Performer, medaled in the 1995 World Championships and later competed in the 1996 Olympic trials.

They have three kids, and two are accomplished sprinters

Keisha and Kevin have three children: a daughter, Abby, and two sons, Noah and Josephus, who have both made names for themselves in the world of sprinting. Noah, the older of the two, is competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Josephus is also an elite sprinter and a two-time defending champion at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.

In 2016, just weeks before the brothers were set to start at the University of Florida, Noah and Josephus instead each signed eight-year contracts with Adidas, making them the first male sprinters to go pro directly out of high school, per The Washington Post.

While the brothers are some of the world’s fastest runners, Keisha says Noah and Josephus let their individuality shine while on the track.

"If you know what you're looking for, you can see their personalities in the way they run," Keisha told The Washington Post in 2016. "Noah's creative, but he's cautious. Josephus, he just says, 'I'm going to give it all I got, and catch me if you can.' "

They encouraged their kids to find their own paths

Despite Keisha and Kevin’s shared love of track and field, they wanted to nurture exploration in their children and allow them to discover their own passions.

“When we were younger, we never did track,” Josephus told NBC in 2023. “Our parents wanted us to try a lot of sports and have fun.”

Still, they found their way to their parents’ roots.

“When they’re kids, you forget that as you get into trying to raise them,” Kevin told the Asbury Park Press in 2021. “You don’t want to put that pressure on them. But to see it happen is amazing. Not every track couple has kids that do what they’re doing.”

In an interview with Sports Illustrated in July 2024, Keisha said how she wanted her sons to choose a path in whatever they wanted, and always used to recite them a quote attributed to John Lennon: “When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life.”

Keisha told the outlet that when she saw the quote, she thought, “This is Noah.”

They divorced in 2008

In 2008, Keisha and Kevin finalized their divorce. Following the split, Keisha and the children moved from Charlotte, N.C. to Alexandria, Va., where they continued to pursue their track and field ambitions. Despite the separation, Kevin stayed involved in his kids' lives, attending competitions and encouraging the athletes, per Asbury Park Press.

Noah gave Kevin “one of the best gifts ever”

In a 2021 Asbury Park Press interview, Kevin revealed that the ring awarded to the Seton Hall Pirates' 1993 Big East indoor championship team, where Kevin was the Most Outstanding Performer, vanished amid the chaos of raising children.

“The kids were at that stage where they were throwing things away, throwing stuff in the toilet,” Kevin said. “Something happened and I think that’s how I lost my ring. It was on my dresser and then I couldn’t find it. When we moved from that house, I tore it up looking for that ring.”

Years later, in 2020, Noah contacted one of Kevin’s former Seton Hall teammates and borrowed his 1993 Big East Championship ring. He then had a replica made and surprised Kevin.

“One of the best gifts ever,” he said of the gesture.

Keisha and Kevin appreciate Noah’s creative side

Off the track, Noah is inherently creative and the elite sprinter’s hobbies include “painting (especially shoes), watching anime, making music and building complex LEGO creations,” per Olympics.com.

“I do it to express myself through art and symbolism,” he told The Washington Post in 2016. “As much as I try, I can’t always express myself on the track.”

However, his artistic nature still comes through when he’s competing, as Noah approaches the sport as a craft, wanting it to be something others enjoy watching.

“Being able to run with passion, and a smile on your face, and turning a race into something for everybody to enjoy, that’s what I consider running with soul,” the athlete told TIME in July 2024.

His parents have frequently mentioned in interviews how much they noticed his artistic side from a young age.

“He’s always been really creative and quirky and just ... him,” Keisha told Sports Illustrated in July 2024. “He polishes his nails and wears his hair in different colors and loves fashion. I really believe he’s an artist who runs fast.”

When Noah faced bouts of isolation in middle school, he gravitated towards art — making sketches of Spiderman and designing uniforms for the track and field team, per TIME.

“He was that kid who was just always trying to test things out,” Kevin told the outlet in June 2024.

They believe it's important to discuss mental health

Noah’s Olympic journey wasn’t as effortless as the talented sprinter may make it seem on the track. Throughout his childhood, Noah faced physical and mental health challenges, along with the family struggling financially. In adulthood, the athlete has been open about his bouts with depression. The Olympian and his family are now committed to being open about the adversity faced along the way as a means to encourage others to press forward.

“I think one of the reasons we were put in this position is because we are willing to be transparent about how hard it is,” Keisha told Today. “And we want people to know it is hard, but you can do it.”

Noah has been vocal about his struggles, particularly a dark period in 2019 leading up to his first Olympics and the isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic — where he combatted severe depression, mounting pressure, homesickness from constant travel and missing his brother who didn’t qualify for the event.

In 2019, while he was in Amsterdam weeks before his first outdoor world championships in Doha, Keisha came to visit as a means to help his homesickness, bringing Raisin Bran Crunch (Noah’s favorite) along with her.

“I didn’t want to leave,” Noah told TIME of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “I had to make a decision. I was like, all right, I’ve got to get better. I can’t let this control me.”

Noah says Keisha is his biggest inspiration

“My biggest inspiration would probably be my mom,” Noah told NBC in July 2024, adding that she’s made “a lot of sacrifices” for him and his brother.

“My mom is a hard worker. I remember her saying constantly, ‘I don’t care what the job is; as long as I’m able to make money for my family, I’ll do the job. And I will do it to the best of my ability,’ ” adding, “That’s kind of how I approach life.”

The athlete got emotional, tearing up as he said, “My mom means everything to me. We’re very close.”