NBC announcer Leigh Diffey has addressed the embarrassing moment he had while calling the men’s 100-meter sprint at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
United States track and field star Noah Lyles became the new fastest man in the world on Sunday when he beat Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by just five-thousandths of a second in the men’s 100-meter race. The race ended in a true photo finish, but Diffey was confident that Thompson had won. The announcer declared Thompson a gold medalist with an incredibly enthusiastic call.
A true photo finish determined that Lyles finished just barely ahead of Thompson. In a social media post on Monday, Diffey acknowledged that he got the call “wrong.”
“The men’s 100 was epic & closest of all time! My eyes & instinct told me Kishane Thompson won. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. I shouldn’t have been so bold to call it, but I genuinely thought he won. I got it wrong. I am thrilled for @LylesNoah as his story only gets bigger!” Diffey wrote.
The men’s 100 was epic & closest of all time! My eyes & instinct told me Kishane Thompson won. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. I shouldn’t have been so bold to call it, but I genuinely thought he won. I got it wrong. I am thrilled for @LylesNoah as his story only gets bigger!
— Leigh Diffey (@leighdiffey) August 5, 2024
Diffey obviously made an honest mistake. Lyles was trailing right until the end of the race, which is why it was understandable that Diffey thought Thompson won. Next time Diffey will probably know to wait a few seconds before making the call in a race that close.
Lyles is the first American sprinter to win the 100-meter race in 20 years. The gold medal was probably even sweeter for him after a blunder of his own may have cost him a chance at winning gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
