Olympic Champion Noah Lyles Faces Off Against IShowSpeed In A $100,000 Race Leaving People Shocked

Noah Lyles, widely known as one of the fastest men in the world, stunned fans when he went head-to-head with a popular streamer, leaving viewers absolutely amazed by the race.

Normally, seeing an Olympic champion compete against a streamer would seem a bit unusual, almost like a social media influencer deciding to challenge an elite athlete.

Picture someone thinking they could race against Michael Phelps in the pool and saying, “Yeah, I can take him on.”

As odd as it sounds, that’s pretty much what went down—except this was on the track, and Lyles, the Olympic 100m gold medalist, is still very much at the top of his game.

However, this wasn't just any influencer who dared to challenge Lyles. It was none other than IShowSpeed, a social media star with quite an appropriate name, and at just 19, Speed lives up to it.

But how close could Speed, whose real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr., get to competing with an Olympic sprinter at such a high level?

Surprisingly close, as it turned out.

IShowSpeed faired pretty well against a world-class athlete Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

This week, Speed went up against Lyles in a 50m race with a massive $100,000 on the line, and the finish was much closer than anyone expected.

The race was so close that some fans are now suggesting Speed might want to look into getting official training and consider competing professionally.

Although Speed put on an incredible show, Lyles still managed to edge him out—but not by a huge distance.

To be fair, it’s likely Lyles wasn’t giving it his absolute maximum effort, as he even took a moment to look over at Speed as he overtook him just before the finish.

After the race, Speed initially claimed that they had tied, but after seeing video evidence, it was clear he had lost.

Lyles added a little humor to the situation, mentioning that he began high-stepping once he had the lead near the finish line.

Despite the result, social media was flooded with praise for Speed’s impressive performance.

Noah Lyles even ridiculed Speed a little after the win John Nacion/Getty Images

One fan shared on YouTube: "A 19-year-old kid got that close to the fastest man alive."

Another added: "Now imagine what would happen if he was professionally trained."

A third fan expressed their amazement: "I don't know about y'all, but the race being THAT CLOSE, is actually MIND BOGGLING. Full Props to Speed."

Someone else commented: "Speed barely lost against the Olympic champion, straight after a 3 hour drive. That's impressive. Huge W."

Another impressed viewer wrote: "The fact that Speed was so close to winning and he admitted defeat while hitting 33 million in one day is a HUGE accomplishment. Congrats speed and keep training!"

Yet another fan echoed the admiration, saying: "I'm extremely impressed!! I understand what speeds saying. He's never had any kind of training before but he's depending on his raw natural talent. It's insane the fact that speed actually gave this man a race when he's never had a ounce of training before."