Noah Lyles celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday. The Gainesville native has been in peak form this year and will enter Paris as a triple World Champion. Lyles clocked 9.83s in the 100m and 19.53s in the 200m trials to qualify for the Olympics as the number 1 sprinter from the US. However, while the good wishes flooded Lyles’ inbox on his birthday, one particular message became a reason for fans’ frustration. 

Wishing Noah Lyles, NBC Olympics & Paralympics captioned their post, “The fastest man on Earth is coming for the Olympic crown.” Such a statement immediately rang the alarm bells as claiming Noah Lyles as the fastest man on Earth is a factually wrong statement. Lyles’ fastest 100m timing stands at 9.83s. Unfortunately, this timing was not enough for Lyles to secure the world lead in 2024. He stands fourth in the 100m list this year with Kishane Thompson (9.77s), Ferdinand Omanyala (9.79s), and Oblique Seville (9.82s) taking the top three spots. 

However, when it comes to the 200m, Lyles does have the world lead with an impressive timing of 19.53s. With his personal best standing at 19.31s, Lyles will surely look to aim for big things in Paris. In fact, Lyles has already expressed his desire to win gold in all four disciplines. He has even hinted at taking down Usain Bolt’s timings and emerging as the new king of track and field. Meanwhile, the fans do not seem happy about the fact that even before accomplishing the title, Lyles is being labeled as the ‘fastest’. 

And this is not the first time Noah Lyles has faced the heat for being called the ‘fastest man’. In an appearance on a show with Jimmy Fallon, Lyles claimed to run at 26 miles per hour. As Fallon termed him as the ‘fastest man in the world’, a storm of criticism followed. A similar thing ensued when Kelly Clarkson too, addressed Lyles with a similar term. With NBC being the latest addition to the list, fans are not mincing words.

NBC trolled brutally for coining Noah Lyles as the ‘fastest man on Earth’ 

Soon after the post became viral, fans quickly took a dislike to the post. Flocking the comments section, they lashed out at the factually incorrect statement from NBC. 

One user criticized NBC’s labeling of Noah Lyles as the “World’s Fastest Man” on the comment section. The fan mentioned blatantly that since several athletes, besides the Jamaican legend, Usain Bolt have recorded faster times, referring to Lyles as the ‘fastest’ doesn’t justify it. They wrote, “I can name 10 men who are faster than him. NBC, don’t piss me off today”. The fan even shared another comment, which included the names of the top 10 men in 100 meters of all time along with their timings. 

The fans also feel that NBC’s claim is misleading, given Lyles’ slower times compared to these athletes and even current season performances like the Jamaican rising phenom Kishane Thompson’s 9.77. Lyles’ best time in 100 meters of 9.83 seconds is slower than Thompson’s 9.77 seconds. Several fans are having their faith in Thompson that he’ll grab the gold in Paris by beating Lyles. Reflecting the same anticipation, one user wrote, “Kishane is coming for it.”

Highlights the frustration and sarcasm among fans regarding NBC Olympics calling Noah Lyles the “World’s Fastest Man”, one user commented, “I’m sure Bolt, Yohan, Tyson, Asafa is alive.” Despite Lyles’ impressive performance, he hasn’t surpassed the legends of track and field yet. The fan’s mention of Bolt, Blake, Powell, and Tyson being “alive” underscores that their records and legendary status still stand, making the title of ‘World’s Fastest’ for Lyles seem premature.

Amid this fastest man dispute, another X user viewed the NBC Olympics’ post as misleading and disrespectful. They shared their opinion and tagged the Jamaican legend to take a step against NBC to urge them to correct their narrative. Sharing their critical thoughts and tagging Usain Bolt, they mentioned, “@usainbolt  please come out publicly and let them stop with the disrespect  And spreading false information Call them out for it or do something. It’s irritating  He’s not even in top 10 all time”.

Another user sarcastically criticized NBC, pointing out that Lyles’ best time (9.83) ranks 17th overall, far behind legends like Usain Bolt and even current competitors like Kishane Thompson (9.77), Ferdinand Omanyala (9.77), Christian Coleman (9.76), and Trayvon Bromell (9.76). The comment read, “Pretty sure the top 5 fastest men on earth still living…… but do you “17th fastest man” in the world”. Such a reaction underscored the frustration within the track and field community about overstating titles, implying Lyles hasn’t earned such a distinction yet.

Well, with such a worldwide uproar ensuing, it is now up to Noah Lyles to back his talking. And if Lyles can truly beat the world records as he has claimed to do, the tag of ‘Fastest Man on the Earth’ will surely sit as a crown on Noah Lyles’ head.