American sprinter Noah Lyles winning the 100-meter men’s race at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ignited a war of words.
The online spat included American celebrities Shannon Sharpe and Gabrielle Union clashing with Jamaican track and field fans.
Noah Lyles can claim the title of “The World’s Fastest Man” after edging out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second in the 100-meter finals at the Paris Olympics. Lyles won with a time of 9.784 seconds.
“Where’s all that brash talking you Jamaicans were doing. When Thompson laid [down] that 9.77 even got the prime minister involved. Told you we had something 4 y’all. I get the women were hurt, but Noah smoked Kishane and made Seville tap out,” Sharpe posted on X.
Another user on the same platform replied, “Shannon you have smoke for a small island that can wrap up in NY like 10 times. Noah won but he is not the fastest man alive or this year.”
The “Club Shay Shay” podcast host fired back, “Stop the blood clot crying,” which causing the lashing to continue.
”Smoked????? Sir what are YOU smoking or did we not all watch the same race??? Calm ya’ rass’, Netta bwoy,” wrote one person on Instagram. Another said, “The same time doesn’t equal smoked Unc. Chill.”
The former NFL player faced more backlash over his fiery takes about Jamaican runners Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville. One person suggested the 3-time Super Bowl champion suffers from the neurodegenerative disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
“That’s called having a great start— which is the goal in this race. Is it CTE?” a person posted in response to Shannon pointing out Lyles caught up with Thompson in a photo finish.
The 56-year-old former Denver Bronco clapped back with a quote-tweet that read, “How much is [an] Uber ride from your forehead 2 your hairline? You should’ve sat this 1 out.”
Sharpe continued his remarks on his “Night Cap” podcast with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, leaving one to remark, “Damn Unk you wrong for that one.”
Unc got smoke with everyone 🤣 @ShannonSharpe @ochocinco @ShayShayMedia_ pic.twitter.com/dYnxFteeu5
— Nightcap (@NightcapShow_) August 4, 2024
Gabrielle Union also jumped into the heated discourse about Lyles’ gold medal victory. After a critic downplayed the six-time world champion claiming to be the fastest man alive before the 100-meter race finals, Union trolled the Lyles hater once the race was over.
“Well, this aged poorly,” the actress posted on X. In addition, the “Bring It On” actress re-shared a separate clip of Lyles saying, “America. I told you, I got this!” which she said will now be her “new ringtone.”
Like Sharpe, X users aimed at Union for her opinions about the Olympic track and field results, as many took jabs at her and Dwyane Wade’s relationship.
One person posted, “You wouldn’t know ‘aging badly’ if it lived in your house and called you ‘stepmom.'”
Another said, “Do you have your half of the rent?” referring to criticism about her and Wade splitting their bills 50/50.
Numerous accounts reminded Union that eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt is still the world record holder in the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4×100-meter relay.
Bolt set the all-time 100-meter record with a 9.58-second performance at the 2009 World Athletics Championships final in Berlin.
“Noah Lyles is the fastest man alive currently. Usain Bolt can’t run like that NOW but he’s the fastest ever. What are they not understanding?” one person asked.
An X account featuring a Jamaican flag in the bio slammed Gabrielle Union too. Their tweet stated, “How is [Lyles] the fastest man alive and he can’t beat 9.58?? He ran 9.79 the fastest he ever ran?? Stop being pretty and use your brain cells for once.”
Union did have advocates on her side of the debate. However, the veteran Hollywood star also received warnings about trying to argue with Jamaican track enthusiasts.
A fan tweeted, “Gabby, sit this out please Jamaicans ruthless.” Yet, another person advised, “Girl pick your battles and delete this while you still can.”
Noah Lyles (9.784) secured the gold medal in the 100-meter final at the Paris Olympics by barely ou-running silver medalist Kishane Thompson (9.789). Fellow American Fred Kerley won the bronze medal with a time of 9.81 seconds.
“I went up to Kishane and I was like, ‘I’m gonna be honest, I think you had that one,'” Lyles told Eurosport after his triumphant race. “I was fully prepared to see his name pop up. and to see my name pop, I’m like, ‘goodness gracious, I’m incredible.'”
