Noah Lyles will not have it easy at the USATF award this year following the stacked list of nominees who are up against him for the Male Athlete of the Year gong.

Olympics 100m champion Noah Lyles faces a big battle for the Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year at the USATF award following the stellar nomination list unveiled on Wednesday.

Lyles is among the contenders for the prestigious award but faces stiff competition from his American track and field colleagues who equally had a good year and impressive performances at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The nomination list has Lyles, alongside Olympics champions Rai Benjamin, Ryan Crouser, Grant Holloway, Quincy Hall and Cole Hocker.

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Lyles, who won 100m title by a 0.005 second margin over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, before settling for bronze in his specialty 200m event, will be hoping for good tidings at the awards gala but he is not the overwhelming favourite this year compared to 2023 when he was the standout male sprinter.

On the list, Benjamin won two Olympics gold medals after claiming 400m hurdles before fending off stiff resistance from Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo to anchor Team USA to the 4x400m relay title.

Meanwhile, Crouser won the shot put gold in Paris, becoming the first athlete to win gold medals in the event at three consecutive Games, and it was more special after he had deal with an injury for most of the season.

Holloway, the 110m hurdles king, is also seeking to claim the award after a dominant year in his discipline when he won nearly every race, including the Olympics title, while Hall claimed the 400m gold medal at the Olympics.

Completing the list is Hocker, the surprise 1,500m Olympics champion who floored defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, the world champion, to claim gold in Paris.

Hocker won gold in a new Olympic record and North American area record of 3:27.65, nearly three seconds better than his previous personal best, ahead of Kerr and American compatriot Yared Nuguse, while Ingebrigtsen finished a surprise fourth.

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Meanwhile, Hall and Hocker have also been nominated in the Inspirational Olympic Performance category.