Bromfield, Lyles become baptised Christians

After winning multiple World Championship medals, getting baptised is not usually on the agenda for athletes. But Jamaican and former World Indoor 4x400m champion Junelle Bromfield and four-time 200m World champion Noah Lyles of America have decided to devote their lives to Jesus.

The couple, who were recently engaged, got baptised together on Sunday and made the announcement via Instagram.

"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord," the couple posted under the post, quoting Joshua 24:15.

STAR Sports reached out to Bromfield via the same platform where she gave the paper some insight on their decision.

"Noah has always been a Christian and he has baptised before. I've never been baptised before today because, I wanted to get baptised when I was ready and not out of fear and many times I have been to the alter before and never committed because I felt like I was doing it for the wrong reasons," she said.

The couple, who train together, go to track events together and live together, also serves God together.

"We have been going to church together, prayer and trying to get closer to God because we wanted him in the middle of our relationship," Bromfield said.

This announcement comes a few days after Lyles' 2025 Tokyo performance which has earned him his fourth 200m World Althletics Championships title, a gold in the 4x100m relay and a bronze in the men's 100m final to add to his collection of medals.

His finace and Jamaican 400m athlete Bromfield - who has earned a 4x400m World Championships silver medal, 4x400 World Indoors gold and 4x400m Olympic bronze medal - did not compete at this year's World Championships in Tokyo, but did celebrate with Lyles, which included a big kiss in the stands after his 100m bronze medal.

"He (God) has also given to both of us so much. We felt as if before celebrating or going on vacation we wanted to get baptised and surrender to God because He has blessed us generously," Bromfield said.

She said her blessings go beyond what she is experiencing now and shared a testimony.

"The last time I remember my cup being empty was the first year of high school. I missed school because my mom had no money and one of my cousins came to the house and gave me J$50. I went on the road to buy a bulla and ended up finding a wallet with around 4000 dollars in it. I went to the shop, got the bulla, and I gave my mom the wallet and I told her let us find its owner," she said.

"I heard so many 'keep the wallet' and 'toss the money', but I made the decision to returned it and since that day so many people have made an impact on my life."

This would later impact her athletic and academic performance in high school, which paved the way for her senior accomplishments.

"I never had to pay for transportation to school again because a bus driver decided that he would help out the little runner from George's Valley and Mr Keith Wellington decided that he will create a female dorm at St Elizabeth Technical High School that was never there before so my mom could have it easier and I could study and practice. He also provided lunch money every week," said Bromfield, whose Girls Champs career included triple gold after winning the 1500m, 800m and 400m in her first year of Class One.

"And with everything I did leading up to where I am, I never needed because He (God) has always provided so that's the reason why I decided to not just accept him verbally, but to get baptised," she said.

How will this decision impact her life and athletic career going forward?

"I honestly don't know. Hopefully apart from us growing closer to God both individually and together we can also create healthy friendships with God-fearing people and as I said before, we have always been Christian. This is Noah's second baptism. He did it because he wanted to us to go on this spiritual journey together," she said.

Bromfield said they want to keep the exact church where the ritual took place private, for now.

sports@gleanerjm.com