Man, Noah Lyles just can’t catch a break.
Lyles was riding high after winning the gold medal in the men’s 100-meter dash at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 200-meter event, on the other hand, was a completely different scenario.
A case of COVID seemingly slowed him down a bit, but he still managed to win bronze. Images of Lyles being carted away from the track in a wheelchair – for COVID, mind you – went viral (no pun intended).
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana won gold in the race. As such, he was greeted with a hero’s welcome Tuesday in Gaborone, Botswana’s capital.
And to nobody’s surprise, Botswana was in full force with their world-famous tremendous sense of humor, taking a jab at Lyles over the wheelchair incident.
A person from Botswana mocking Noah Lyles at the Botswana Olympic Team Coronation. Noah was literally sick after the race pic.twitter.com/G8pPpjTojB
— Fred Kerley DOUBLE OLYMPIC MEDALIST! (@NewsJacobss) August 13, 2024
RELATED: Tyreek Hill Says He’d Smoke Noah Lyles In A Race, Claims Lyle’s Illness Was ‘Horseradish’
Noah Lyles Gets Ripped By Tebogo Fans
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad Lyles is okay and I’m well aware of his history with asthma, which makes COVID a little more troublesome.
But uh, I’ve never seen somebody need a wheelchair for it. Not to mention, just days after he was so stricken with the illness that forced him to withdraw from the Olympics, video showed him dancing and partying it up in Paris.
So this effort at trolling is pretty solid.
Further evidence of Botswana’s world-renowned sense of humor surfaced in an X post showing the video.
“Yoh, @LylesNoah, they wishing you a speedy recovery here in Botswana man, our internet is slow so they’ll only know about your swift recovery in 10 days.”
Alright, I’m making up that part about comedy being Botswana’s main export but come on, that’s funny right there.
RELATED: Team USA Basketball Appears To Take A Shot at Noah Lyles For Only Winning Bronze Medal
Noah Is Now A Punchline
Noah Lyles went from gold medal hero to being the target of nearly everybody on the planet since faltering in the 200-meter race.
Team USA men’s basketball team kicked off the mockery with a tweet clearly aimed at the track start stating, “We don’t play for Bronze.”
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill joined in by saying the whole COVID ordeal was “horseradish” and suggesting he could smoke Lyles on the track.
Tebogo himself slammed his counterpart and said he would never eclipse him as the face of the sport because he isn’t like Lyles.
“I think, for me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah,” Tebogo said. “I believe Noah is the face of athletics.”
Right now he’s the face of humiliation in Botswana.
More about:Athletics