Noah Lyles’ gold-medal finish in the men’s 100m final at the 2024 Olympic Games was possibly the tightest in history. He beat Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second.
A fan conspiracy has since surfaced online, suggesting that the speakers at the starting block made all the difference, as Lyles would have probably been at a disadvantage without them—a disadvantage of 0.0008 seconds, to be precise.
Given that the American won by 0.0005 seconds, it stands to reason that Thompson would have won the sprint if there’s any weight to the theory.
“If I did my math right, those starting block speakers made a difference last night,” an X/Twitter user wrote.
“Without them, Lyles would have been at a disadvantage of 0.008 sec — how long the sound of the pistol takes to travel from lane 4 (Thompson) to lane 7 (Lyles). He won by 0.005.”
The post didn’t quite take off on the platform where it was shared but has gone viral on Facebook, with an account posting a screenshot that has garnered thousands of likes and comments.
Noah Lyles Conspiracy Theory Sparks Mega Debate Online
Of course, the theory has sparked a debate over the speed of sound and what have you.
“This is precisely why there is a horn under each starting block for swimming (where all races are longer and where one could theoretically argue that it is less likely to be the difference-maker),” one of the comments read. “Why there is not a similar provision for track races, particularly for the 100m, is mystifying.”
“It is electric signal travelling in the line, not sound wave. So all speakers make sound at the same time, because electric signal travels like speed of light,” another read. “The sound wave then travels from the speaker making noise to athletics ear, so they all hear it at the same time because all speakers placed about the distance from athletics.”
In any case, Noah Lyles is leaving Paris with at least one gold medal, but he’s aiming for a clean sweep and will be competing in the 200m final this Thursday.
Look out for those speakers.
