Move aside Olympic Games, for the US-Jamaica rivalry has spilled onto social media now! And, no, we’re not talking about fans clashing to decide who’s better than who. This time, Jamaican fans have decided to lend their voices to another cause, more specifically, the drama surrounding Junelle Bromfield and Noah Lyles.

As the world prepares to set its eyes on Stade de France, a recent interview by the reigning 100m champion added a second wind to the long-standing conflict between the two sprint-loving nations. In a recent podcast appearance on Track World News, Lyles let a comment slip, stating how he knows some insider information about the Jamaican camp.

“I have been getting the drama from Jamaican camps for at least five years now,” he revealed. Soon after, the revelation opened the floodgates, with fans accusing the Jamaican sprinter of feeding her partner with insider information. However, not everyone felt that treatment was fair as an X user tweeted, “The drama part was unnecessary for Noah to add. I’m pretty sure he knows Jamaica doesn’t play with that. If he just said he knew that guys like Kishane and Oblique were coming, the situation wouldn’t be getting out of hand. Junelle should stop being harassed.”

They believe that Bromfield did no harm, and while the Olympic bronze medalist meant well, he could’ve done it differently.

But many picked at the 6x World Champion’s comments. The conversation took an ugly turn when fans promptly started calling her names like “backstabber” or “traitor.” Some fans even connected a comment Lyles previously made about studying his competitors with this newfound information. It isn’t odd for couples to talk about their day, but fans seem to overlook that due to the upcoming Summer Games. Many went as far as to stating that her teammates might look at her differently after this revelation and that she should mince her words.

While Bromfield chose to stay away from the debate initially, she eventually responded to the accusations with an Instagram story. “Living my best life because all these insult in the comments ain’t paying for these class flight!!” She accompanied these words with a video of her enjoying her view. But this only added more fuel to the fire. While both Lyles and Bromfield have found themselves in hot water, the world indoor champion seems to have taken a much bigger hit.

However, just like Lyles further pointed out, “Jamaican Twitter, yeah, they are ride or die people. But I love it because that’s what you want to see you want to have that nation behind you,” the island nation chose to back their kin.

Jamaican track & field fans come to Bromfield’s aid

Despite the severe backlash after her response, it looks like Junelle Bromfield still has a few fans in her corner. Amidst the hate brigade on X, several fans who felt differently spared no time in voicing their opinions. One fan expressed, “The stuff they’ve been saying about Junelle is sick af“. Apparently, some fans even started attacking the athlete based on her appearance, something that was completely unwarranted and uncalled for.

Another fan exclaimed, “That’s Noah’s fault, why is everyone going in on Junelle? Please she’s your country’s athlete and you’re hoping she goes out in the first round, have some respect.” The Olympic bronze medalist clocked in an impressive 51.24 seconds in 400m at the Jamaican Olympic Trials. She’s currently slated to participate in the 400m and 4x400m event on the purple tracks.

One fan agreed, “The only people being affected rn is junelle bromfield with the backlash she is getting from Jamaicans” She will be competing at her first Olympic individual event at Paris, and qualifying this year meant the world to the athlete but she isn’t going to let this get to her, which was pretty evident from her responses.

Another fan pointed out, “The disrespect towards Junelle is uncalled for, we were calling out Ark for sharing information which was obviously shared in private (“pillow talk”). Focus people” Pillow talk is not uncommon, but while many fans were focused on holding Bromfield responsible, a few started pointing fingers at Noah Lyles instead. One fan stated, “Oh yeah, I 100% agree Noah is at fault for sharing that publicly, it’s just sad some people are saying nasty things about Junelle now.” 

A perplexed fan simply said, “She said kishane is so talented but is always getting injured … Noah said junelle always had an eye for talented ppl.. and yall offended ???? Be sooo for real”. Notably, Lyles had said, “I’ve known about a lot of the Jamaicans that are on the underground, and usually Junelle’s eye for talent is very strong. If she says that somebody is going to run fast, they usually run fast.” The American track and field athlete had mentioned he was also informed about Kishane Thompson’s injuries. The 22-year-old Jamaican athlete is being touted as a rival to Lyles.

Beating Lyles’ career-best run time of 9.83 seconds by 0.06 seconds, Thompson won the men’s 100m event of the Jamaican Olympic trials in June, with 9.77 seconds. Qualifying for his first-ever Olympic event, the athlete also became the joint ninth fastest man in history. Vulnerable to injuries, the Paris-bound Jamaican had to miss major events like World Championships in Budapest last year. Thankfully, he bounced back for the Prefontaine Classic.

If you ask 27-year-old, though, he’d rather prefer “[Thompson] stays injured”. So it’s understandable how any information about Thompson would be of paramount importance to Lyles.

That being said, despite the backlash, Noah Lyles and Junelle Bromfield continue to stand by each other’s side. But some fans are hoping the hate will subside in time before the Summer Games. What do you think of the situation? Let us know in the comments!