Yu-Gi-Oh: Olympian Noah Lyles Returns to Team Trial With Exodia Charm

The worlds of sports and anime will routinely find themselves intermingling in some surprising ways. When it comes to anime series focusing on sports, heavy hitters such as Haikyu, Blue Lock, Hajime No Ippo, and Slam Dunk are just a few examples of anime adaptations that have become popular for adding anime elements to major sports. On the flip side, real-life sports routinely find ways to inject anime into their events, as one Olympian, Noah Lyles, is wearing his love for the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise on his sleeve. To pay homage to Yugi Moto’s series, Lyles is breaking out one of the strongest cards in the game.

To give you an idea of how powerful Exodia is, the card that Lyles broke out before his latest Olympic trials, it is effectively game over once a player is able to gather all five cards that make up the Egyptian God. In the first series of the card-slinging franchise, Yugi Moto uses Exodia to score him a win against Seto Kaiba and his Blue Eyes White Dragons. Unfortunately, Yugi would go on to lose Exodia to the sea thanks to a fellow player throwing the five cards into the ocean, but that wouldn’t stop Moto from continuing to dominate the card game in the first season of the anime series.

Noah Lyles Plays Exodia

The 2024 Summer Olympics are right around the bend and Noah Lyles is looking to take home the gold for the United States of America. Participating in the hundred and two hundred meter dashes, Lyles recently ran wearing a Blue Eyes White Dragons around his neck. While he didn’t wear all five cards that make up Exodia, the anime-loving Olympian was sure to show off the main card of the set that helped score Yugi Moto one of his earliest wins.

The current season of Yu-Gi-Oh has focused on card games that inject extraterrestrials into the anime adaptation. Yu-Gi-Oh Go Rush has been presenting some wild card battles in the series, though the days of Yugi Moto seem like a thing of the past. Perhaps one day in the future, Yugi might see a return and bust out Exodia to help take home some gold of his own.

Want to ee how anime continues to be a part of the world of sports in real life? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook for all the latest updates on Yu-Gi-Oh and the many other anime card games taking the world by storm.