“To my future wife, I will love you forever.” That’s what Noah Lyles posted to the world after proposing to Junelle Bromfield in October 2024. The two are now planning to say “I do” in spring 2026. But this love story almost didn’t happen. In fact, Junelle once flat-out said no to dating Noah. Not because she didn’t like him. But because she was afraid… afraid of losing something even more valuable than love: their friendship. And to get to that proposal? It took years, missed chances, and even a relationship trial period. But how did it all start?

The story starts back in 2017, when Junelle, bold and curious, slid into Noah’s Instagram DMs. Yep, she made the first move. They clicked instantly, chatting for weeks and finally exchanging numbers. But their busy training schedules kept getting in the way, and it took months before they could even meet in person. When did they finally do it in 2018? It didn’t go as planned. “She was very quiet,” Noah recalled, surprised after all their phone conversations. Junelle agreed: “It didn’t click at all.” The music was loud, Noah was dancing (which, for Junelle, was a total first-date surprise), and the vibes just… weren’t vibing. So instead of pushing romance, they hit pause and agreed: Let’s just be friends. And for the next five years, that’s exactly what they were: close, supportive, platonic friends.

Fast forward to 2022. Both of them were single again. Noah Lyles reached out. This time, the energy felt different. The foundation was already there, five years of friendship, five years of learning each other. But still, Junelle was hesitant. “I still was not sure,” she admitted to Essence.com. “I was afraid of losing our friendship because a lot of people date as friends, and that ruined their friendship. But I knew we had chemistry, so I was willing to take a risk.” And Noah? He had a solution. To make it easier, he came up with a 3-month relationship trial. They’d check in every month, talk honestly about what was working and what wasn’t, and decide together if they should keep going. “It made me feel comfortable taking a risk,” Junelle said.

And that risk? It turned out to be the beginning of something real. What started as a cautious test turned into the love of a lifetime. Slowly, gently, they stepped out of the friend zone and into something far deeper. By the end of 2022, they were officially together. The same two athletes who once couldn’t sync a first date were now syncing their lives. From a DM in 2017, to missed sparks in 2018, to emotional check-ins in 2022, to a proposal in 2024, they made it. And now, in 2026, they’ll make it official. But even after all that, their journey wasn’t without its challenges, especially in the past year.

The comment that nearly tore Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield down

Love stories aren’t always just about flowers and fairytales, sometimes they face fire. Such a fire, Noah Lyles and Junelle. During a candid chat on the Track World News podcast, Noah made a comment that set social media ablaze. “I’ve been getting drama from Jamaican camps for years,” he said. “Junelle being Jamaican and having trained in MVP, I have been getting a lot of drama from the Jamaica camp for at least five years now.” It was an offhand remark meant to support Junelle and express the frustrations she had shared privately, but it backfired, big time. The Jamaican track community didn’t take kindly to it. Suddenly, Junelle was being painted as the source of Noah’s insight, a “snitch,” some said. And from there, things got dark.

Junelle became the target of intense online harassment. From aggressive tweets to cruel comments, people attacked not just her integrity, but her identity. Some went as far as hurling colorist insults and even death threats. “I was shocked and deeply hurt,” Junelle said in an emotional post. “To be vilified for simply being honest in my private life was heartbreaking.” The abuse wasn’t just digital, it took a toll on her mental health. But Junelle didn’t face it alone. Noah stood by her side unwaveringly, taking to social media to defend her with force. “This woman has been through so much and STILL shows up every day with grace and fire,” he wrote. “The disrespect and hatred y’all throw at her is pure cruelty, and I won’t stand for it.”

Despite the chaos, the situation revealed the true strength of their bond. Instead of breaking them, it brought them closer. In interviews afterward, Junelle opened up about how Noah Lyles supported her through her grief and hardship, especially remembering how he was there when she lost her brother in 2019. “He held me when I broke down. He listened when I couldn’t speak. That’s love.”. For Noah, defending Junelle wasn’t just about love, it was about honoring the woman who had stood by him through thick and thin. “She means that much to me,” he said. “And I’ll always protect her.” So while the headlines tried to stir drama, what came out of it was something more powerful: proof that their relationship is built not just on love, but on loyalty and an unshakeable friendship.