Noah Lyles faces backlash over insider info on Jamaican athletes

Social media users have been reacting to a podcast interview with American sprinter Noah Lyles in which he spoke about his knowledge of happenings within Jamaica's track and field camps.

The interview on Colin Waitzman's Track World News was uploaded on Monday, July 15, and also included American 400m runner, Noah Williams.

During the more than one hour long discussion, the topic of 'Jamaican Twitter' was discussed with Noah Williams saying, "Jamaican track Twitter ... It is the most toxic world you can get in track and field. Drama-filled and toxic ... like shots being thrown, accusations being made. A lot of the times about him [Noah Lyles] ...a lot of fun going through Jamaica track Twitter."

Before that, Noah Lyles spoke about his relationship with Jamaican 400-metre runner Junelle Bromfield and the things he learnt about the Jamaican track camps in the last five years, seemingly through his relationship with Bromfield.

"Junelle being Jamaican and having trained in MVP, I have been getting the drama from the Jamaican camp at least five years now. There is a lot of times I make references about Jamaicans but I am not trying to go back and forth, like I know information that other people don't," said Lyles.

Social media users were not pleased with this and other comments made. One user on X (formerly Twitter) said,  "I heard what Noah said about knowing things going back five years. I'm not surprised because pillow talk is part of a healthy relationship, but yeah people are gonna distrust her going forward. Ah well, Junelle made her bed (pun definitely intended) so she should lay in it."

He also sought to clarify his “hope he stays healthy”comments on Jamaica's national champion in the men's 100m, Kishane Thompson.

Junelle Bromfield, a member of Jamaica's track team heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics in France, started to address social media users on X before her account could no longer be found on the platform.

Some users defended the Jamaican athlete, with one person saying, "Wait, why did I wake up to people bashing and saying nasty things about Junelle? Pillow talk is normal between a couple; anybody y'all should have smoke with is Noah for repeating what was told to him. Junelle just happens to be collateral damage."

Khanique McDaniel

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