Noah Lyles captured the sports world’s attention with a gold medal in the men’s 100-meter sprint this weekend at the Paris Olympics, but Americans were caught confused and frustrated after NBC track and field announcer Leigh Diffey called the photo-finish in favor of Jamaican runner Kishane Thompson. And while Dan Le Batard praised Lyles for his impressive feat, he came down hard on Diffey, claiming the botched call will haunt the broadcaster “for the rest of eternity.”
Le Batard didn’t go so far as to say Diffey ruined the moment, but he definitely seemed to believe Diffey took some of the magic out of Lyles’ big win.
“That announcer will be haunted for the rest of eternity,” Le Batard said. “No one had a worse moment in track and field than that guy.”
Update: Le Batard responded to a post on X on Monday to clarify his stance.
“I didn’t crush Diffey. I feel terribly for him. And not as badly as he himself must already feel,” Le Batard wrote. “The stakes are high for the announcers, too, and the best ones suffer these mistakes.”
I didn’t crush Diffey. I feel terribly for him. And not as badly as he himself must already feel. The stakes are high for the announcers, too, and the best ones suffer these mistakes. — Dan @awfulannouncing https://t.co/WESp3VWMmF
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) August 5, 2024
Lyles won the race by .005 seconds, benefitting from a technicality in professional track in which runners must cross the finish line with their abdomen first, not their arms or legs. The gold Lyles won on Monday was the trash-talking celebrity sprinter’s first 100-meter medal ever.
“What happened with Noah Lyles was the story of the weekend, because you’ve never had a race that close, and you’ve never had an announcer name it for the wrong guy for eternity,” Le Batard said.
More than his own criticism, Le Batard emphasized that Diffey will probably struggle to move beyond that for a long time.
“You can’t call it for somebody else. You can’t call it for the second-place finisher,” Le Batard said. “That guy will eat his face off. Announcers who care about that stuff, they get one chance like that for all time.”
Diffey explained himself on Monday, saying he “genuinely thought” Thompson won but should not have been “so bold” to call it for the Jamaican.
After Diffey called the win for Thompson, he went quiet for several seconds on the live NBC broadcast, adding to the uncertainty around the outcome while Lyles appeared to celebrate his victory.
The whole issue only lasted a minute or two before viewers at home found out Lyles won. But clearly some, like Le Batard, believe it’s fairly unforgivable.
