"Noah Lyles was trolling him"; "Closer than I thought" - Fans react to American sprinter narrowly winning against IShowSpeed in $100,000 challenge

Fans recently reacted to a thrilling and nail-biting finish between Noah Lyles and internet sensation IShowSpeed in a high-stake $100,000 challenge. The Paris Olympics gold medalist and Speed locked horns in a 50m dash.

During a live session, Mr.Beast, an American YouTuber set up a high-stakes race between Lyles and Speed, offering a $100k bet. Initially, Speed hesitated, claiming his location was too far.

However, Lyles and Mr.Beast teased him into reconsidering. During the race, Speed showed his impressive skills, losing with a needle-thin gap against Lyles and leaving the fans stunned, defying their expectations. One of the fans conveyed their startle and wrote,

"It was closer than I thought... That's crazy."

Another fan expressed their amazement at the unexpected event writing:

"Nah the fact Speed even came close to beating him is insane."

Some fans defended Lyles, suggesting he was playing around with Speed than actually trying to win the race.

"Noah was trolling him."

Here are a few more reactions:

"Oh nah imagine running ur whole life and speed almost beats you," wrote a fan.

"Speed was so close to being the fastest person in the world," penned another fan.

"Lol Noah Lyles legit was just chilling.. yall need to relax, he only ran just fast enough to win .. he definitely didn’t run his fastest," one of the fans conveyed.

Noah Lyles misses his name in the nomination list for the World Athlete of the Year Award amongst Letsile Tebogo and Jakob Ingebrigtsen

Noah Lyles of the United States prepares for the start of the Men's 200m Semi-Final 2 during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. (Photo via Getty Images)

Noah Lyles was a notable absentee from the nomination list for the 2024 World Athlete of the Year Award, which included Letsile Tebogo and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

Lyles clinched a gold medal in the men's 100m event after leading the race by a mere five-thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaica's Kishane Thompson. Moreover, he also finished behind Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek in the 200m, setting with a bronze medal.

The American sprinter also had to remain dormant from the relay event after being tested positive for COVID-19. In contrast, secured a gold in 200m and a silver medal in the men's 4x400m relay, running the anchor leg.

Ingebrigtsen collected a gold medal in the men's 5000m after clocking a staggering time of 13:13.66, earning the nomination. The other notable nominees include Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Julien Alfred, Monado Duplantis and Siffan Hassan.