Anticipation was in the air as eight men lined up on the tracks of the Stade de France tonight. Stacked with some of the world’s fastest legs, however, there could be just one winner. ‘Shoot,’ not even 10 seconds to the gunfire, and the world had a verdict. Was it Noah Lyles or Kishane Thompson? The spectators looked up anxiously, waiting for the final scores to pop on the board. And as they did, it was proclaimed that NOAH LYLES was the new Olympic 100m champion. Despite both contenders clocking a 9.79, Lyles had won by 1/1000th second!

Well, this left a look of perplexity on the faces of Thompson and most Jamaicans. And the result was a social media outburst. Post-sprint, the Jamaican fans flooded social media, trying to pinpoint the possibility of an injustice. They refused to believe that matching scores can lead to differing results and that Thompson lost the gold by a nose hair. One of the fans wrote, “They cheated Kishane !!!” While another fan pointed out that Lyles was given an undue advantage, “They put him in that easy ass semi final so he could conserve his energy. They cheated Kishane.”

To the viewers, it literally looked that the two were in absolute sync as they crossed the finish line. But Thompson roared with joy as he crossed the finish line, underscoring a winner’s confidence. Until, he saw the ‘photo finish‘ tag next to his name on the screen. Both him and Lyles stared at the screen, with the latter’s hands on his head. Per the results, both clocked 9.79 seconds, only Lyles was (0.005) seconds faster. Whereas, Fred Kerley came in third with a clear 9.81 seconds.

This means Lyles ran his personal best after his 9.81 at the London Athletics meets last month, to clutch hold of the gold spot. Thereby, fulfilling the intentions he had set long ago. But, Thompson, the 100m world lead after his 9.77 at the Jamaican trials, had to settle for silver. And now, fans are airing speculations if the results were accurate.

Fans rally behind Kishane with ‘cheating’ speculations, after Noah Lyles bags gold

Post the race, some of the fans picked up their devices to go back to the controversial moment. Uploading videos and images from the side angle, they tried to iterate how Thompson was a clear winner. One of the fans wrote, “How can he be 2nd after he had the same time as Noah Lyles? I’m the video it’s clear that Thompson didn’t finish second. Paris Olympics are becoming a big disgrace day by day.” The fan seemed real agitated with all that had transpired post the race.

But there were a few fans who raised tactical questions. They mentioned that Kishan’s head and torso were way behind, and that’s what has to enter first per the rule. However, Kishane supporters were armed with answers for all possibilities. One of them wrote, “Nah I’m sorry. They robbed Kishane and it was obvious he crossed the line first. Even with the slow down you can STILL see his foot crossed before Noah chest. Teif dem teif him.” 

One of the fans took it a little further than disbelief. They smelled the possibility of how Lyles being favored for the win by saying, “They pushed for Noah to win that race. They cheated for Noah Lyles (LIES.) Kishane Thompson Won that gold medal. World’s fastest man with the same time as the (1st place, sabotaged Jamaica) 2nd place. Interestingly, Kishane’s heats and semifinals scores at the Paris Olympics were faster compared to Lyles’. Thompson ran a clear 10.00 in the round 1, while Lyles was a 0.04 seconds slower. Whereas, in the semis, Thompson ran a 9.80, while Lyles’ 9.83 was the same as his Olympic Trials time this year.

However, post the race, Thompson gives a clarification, which possibly trashes the possibility of any conjecture. He was also seen stating, “There is no going back…I made a mistake. I know what I should improve on now, so for that experience I’m super grateful.” But the fans have a different story to say. What do you think? Let us know.