'That wasn't close' - Gabby Thomas defends Noah Lyles on claims of YouTuber IShowSpeed almost defeated her colleague

Gabby Thomas

'That wasn't close' - Gabby Thomas defends Noah Lyles on claims of YouTuber IShowSpeed almost defeated her colleague

Funmilayo Fameso 08:58 - 08.11.2024

American speed queen Gabby Thomas spared a few words for the non-track community who claim it was a close race between Noah Lyles and IShowSpeed.

Triple Olympic champion Gabby Thomas has come to the defense of Noah Lyles on the claims that her colleague was almost beaten in the viral 50m race with YouTuber IShowSpeed.

The race, sponsored by multi-billionaire social influencer MrBeast, was organized for a philanthropic cause, with all the winning money going to charity.

MrBeast, IShowSpeed, and Noah Lyles after the viral race. Photo Credit - @MrBeast / Instagram

With a huge $100,000 winning prize on offer, Lyles and IShowSpeed went head to head in the battle, as the Olympic 100m gold medallist expectedly won the race.

Due to the short distance of the race, their distance appeared closer than expected, and Speed kept screaming "That was a tie, I'm the fastest man alive. I'm the fastest man in the world." Until the replay clip was played and Lyles was judged the clear winner.

Following this, a narrative ensued, mostly by the non-track community with the claims that Speed almost defeated the world's fastest man and that considering he doesn't have the privilege to train as a track athlete, it was a very close race.

With several assumptions online, Thomas reacted to one of the assertions by quoting a post on X.

Gabby Thomas won three gold medals at the Paris Olympic Games

"This wasn’t close…like at all.

She further went ahead to reply some comments:

"to be fair speed has never trained in track while Noah is a Olympic gold medalist. Speed is just a content creator who streams," wrote one X user.

She replied: "exactly lol he ran well for a streamer so props to him!! Noah just beat him bad."

Another commented: "To be the worlds fastest man and a kid that streams all day be that close it was close."

Thomas' response: " :speed is fast but this race wasn’t close. lol idk how far you expect somebody to be at 50m. and it looks like Noah wasn’t even running fr?!"

Noah Lyles is the world's fastest man as the Olympic and World Champion

While another user in support of the speed queen said: "Please do not give either of these people your attention - even your acknowledgement is the clout they’re chasing."

Thomas' response: "I don’t know who speed is tbh but I respect people who show up to run/race."

"Noah knew it was too close for comfort so he plays around at the end so he can say “oh I was messing around at the end” we can maybe argue that Noah wasn’t running hard? Like 50%? How can we truly determine that."

Thomas' response: "Idk it’s just not possible to run 100% with your head turned to the side and dancing tbh. I would know but I agree Speed probably ran faster than we all expected."

Meanwhile, Lyles donated his $100,000 to his track foundation. "I'd love for Speed to have it but the kids I'm working for need it more - the Lyles Brothers Foundation." While Speed kept reiterating "You barely won," Lyles replied: "I didn't even hit top speed."

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