Both Noah Lyles and his haters got their respective moments during the Paris Olympics.
The American sprinting star Lyles was upset in Thursday’s men’s 200-meter race, finishing with a bronze medal. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana took home the gold with a time of 19.46 seconds, earning the first-ever Olympic gold medal in his country’s history as well as the first Olympic gold in the men’s 200m for an African runner. Lyles’ fellow American Kenny Bednarek got the silver with a time of 19.62 seconds, and Lyles had to settle for rounding out the podium with his time of 19.70 seconds.
LETSILE TEBOGO WINS THE MEN’S 200M FOR BOTSWANA! 🇧🇼 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/jL9jm4bTKZ
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024
A bronze medal is obviously still a nice achievement for Lyles. But it was ultimately some egg on the face of Lyles since he was heavily favored to win the race and also confidently declared days before the 200m race that he was going to do so.
Noah Lyles was trying to be a lil respectful until Fred Kerley poked him to talk like…
“None of them is winning. When I come off the turn, they will be depressed”
— wayBackinTimes (@waybackintimes) August 6, 2024
As a result, Lyles ended up getting the meme treatment on social media. Here were some of the posts roasting him for the upset loss.
NBA Twitter waiting for Noah Lyles after not winning the 200m final pic.twitter.com/ANi8y0LH0q
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) August 8, 2024
"That man ain't winning, none of them are winning, when I come off the turn, they'll be depressed"- noah lyles on the 200m, 2024 pic.twitter.com/UjWQJE4MPu
— Reese (stranded at a ferrari strategy meeting ) (@fasttcar) August 8, 2024
Noah Lyles: “the 200m is mine. when I come off the curve, it’s over for them”
Letsile Tebogo: pic.twitter.com/DJhTe3yLJj
— Agent Chaos (@Apexoholic) August 8, 2024
NBA players showing up to the Olympic village after Noah Lyles’ bronze pic.twitter.com/s9H8xaj0mI
— (@HeatvsHaters) August 8, 2024
Lyles is known for his showmanship, trash talk, and supreme confidence in himself, which can often rub people the wrong way. Many pro athletes in different sports have also expressed their dislike of him.
Of course, the jokes about Lyles’ performance on Thursday can only go so far. No matter what, Lyles can say that he is an Olympic gold medalist (after winning the men’s 100m race last Sunday). On top of that, it appears there was at least one massive reason for Lyles’ disappointing result in the 200m.
