In 2024, who doesn’t know Noah Lyles? He’s the reigning 100m Olympic champion, aka the fastest man. Straight from the Paris Olympics to the New York Fashion Week runway, he has turned into a mega-celebrity beyond the tracks too. Doesn’t matter if you like him or not— there are slim chances you haven’t heard of this American phenom. Well, even in America’s track rival nation, Jamaica, the name Noah Lyles sure rings a bell.

But, recently, when a few Jamaican kids made an innocent jumble-up, it left the track and field community splitting their sides with laughter. In fact, a budding Jamaican athlete saw the hilarious side of it too and laughed it off while voicing that his credibility came under question. What exactly happened? Let’s dive into it.

Noah Lyles apologizes for a hilarious mistake

Jaydon Hibbert, a 19-year-old Olympian long jumper who debuted on the mega stage in Paris, came across a video that tickled his funny bone. And the teenage sensation could not resist sharing.  Taking to X, the Jamaican posted a snippet from Television Jamaica’s Junior Schools Challenge Quiz between students from the Excelsior and Bamboo Primary schools. It showed the question, ‘Look at the monitor and identify this person’ being asked, after which an image of Hibbert pops up.

Despite the Jamaican flag wrapped around the athlete, and JAMAICA written in bold on his tracksuit, the kid’s answer cracked Hibbert up. ‘Noah Lyles’ answered the child, which was instantly corrected by the host who clarified it was, “Correct- Jaden Hibbert, Jamaican athlete.” Sharing this on X, Hibbert wrote, “Excelsior I expected better😭cause ain’t no way you looked at the monitor and said i was noah lyles🤣🤣🤣 nd me dee tink me famous yk 🤣😔😭”  

There is no way this incident could not have garnered Noah Lyles’ attention. Who instantly replied under Hibbert’s post, “🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 They saw them big Jamaican letters and said with a bold face Noah Lyles. I’m sorry Hibby.” All Hibbert could say to this hilarious apology was, “BYE🤣🤣🤣🤣.” Well, the image originally was from the World Athletics U20 Championships Cali’ 22, where Hibbert was just 17 when he nabbed the triple jump title while breaking the championship record too. After his 17.27m jump, the mark became second best on the U18 world all-time list and eighth in the U20 one.

Despite this, the Jamaican student mistook him for Noah Lyles. Well, the track and field fans found this to be as funny as the athletes themselves. Commenting below the post, they voiced amusing reactions.

Fans cackle as kid identifies Jamaican athlete as Lyles

One of the fans had a cheeky remark. They wrote, “Noah won for sure. The kids know him and he is now Jamaican.” Despite the America-Jamaica sprint rivalry, it looks like Lyles name springs up quite often on their side. And for children of the nation to know you well, it’s a strong indicator of his popularity as an athlete.

Another one linked it up with Lyles’ Jamaican girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield. They wrote, “It’s the Jamaican suit that Junelle had him wear that threw them off… Lol… Probably the hair colour 🤣🤣” Speculating the reason for this mix-up, a fan possibly referred to Noah Lyles and Junelle’s appearance on the ‘Fast Lane Lifestyle’ podcast with The Powells, where Lyles and Junelle both appeared in matching Team Jamaica outfits.

They also indicated that it could be because the Jaydon Hibbert’s image showed his hair colored. This is something that Lyles has pulled off previously too. While another one chimed in with, “You wear too much Jamaican shirt confusing our poor kids out here Bro😆” Nearly 3 months ago, as Noah Lyles arrived in Jamaica for the 2024 Racers Grand Prix, he showed up at the press conference at the Jamaica Pegasus in St. Andrew wearing a Team Jamaica jersey. Lyles had admitted in the conference that it was Junelle’s idea for them to wear ‘matching gear.’

Noah Lyles’ girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield had previously come under the fan radar for his statements about getting, ‘the drama from the Jamaican camp for at least five years now.’ Even Lyles finds him caught up in the storm of the Jamaica-America track rivalry quite often. Especially, after he narrowly edged his Jamaican rival Kishane Thompson for 100m gold in Paris. But today’s occurrence leads a fan to say, “U are now the king of Jamaica🤣😂🤣.” 

Also, as Jamaican contenders fall short of their golden marks in Paris, in both the men’s 100m and 200m events, their fans had an unusual take on the mixup. Putting a unique spin on this goof-up, one of the fans wrote, “When you’re the current fastest man, of course you being American don’t register to them.” They believe that being the Olympic champion is a job suited only for the Jamaicans. And only under this condition, the kids must have confused him for a Jamaican. What are your thoughts about this? Let us know below.