Now the biggest star in track, American sprinter Noah Lyles can shine much-needed spotlight on world indoors

Four days before his scheduled opening-round heat in the men's 60 metres at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, here came Noah Lyles, already breaking records … reportedly.

On Monday the American sprint star revealed that he had signed a contract extension with his shoe sponsor, Adidas, and some media outlets described the deal as "record-setting." We can't verify that claim, mainly because the financial details of track shoe deals rarely become public. The only context we have comes from Adidas itself, which said in a press release that Lyles's updated pact is "the richest in the sport of track and field since the retirement of Usain Bolt."

Sharp-eyed readers will point out that "richest since" doesn't necessarily equal "richer than," and so we don't know how close Lyles's new salary is to the reported $10 million US per year Bolt made with Puma. But the contract could make Lyles history's highest-paid track and field athlete in several categories.

American.

Runner-slash-rapper.

Best-paid track star named after an Old Testament prophet, beating out retired superstar steeplechaser Ezekiel Kemboi.

This much is certain: as a pitchman in Olympic sport, Lyles is striking at the right time.

Yes, athletes win Olympic medals and quickly parlay their new fame into endorsement deals. But Lyles, like many of us, also lives in North America, where, within two weeks of the extinguishing of the Olympic fame, mainstream sports fans have already diverted their attention to the NFL regular season, MLB's pennant chase, or, for Canadians, the opening of NHL training camps. From a marketing standpoint, it's more lucrative to establish yourself as a competitor and personal brand 12 months out, then ride the sponsorship wave