"When he hit that backflip I got scared for Noah Lyles" - Gabby Thomas reacts to IShowSpeed's impressive performance against 100m Olympic champion

Reigning 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas has voiced her thoughts on Noah Lyles' challenge against IShowSpeed. The two faced off against each other in a $100,000 challenge recently, where Lyles secured victory over the streamer in the 50m dash.

Lyles and Speed were brought together by the most subscribed YouTuber in the world, James Stephen Donaldson, popularly known as Mr. Beast, with a whopping $100,000 at stake. During Speed's livestream, Mr. Beast and Lyles called in, prompting the streamer to challenge the runner for a sprint faceoff. Lyles accepted the challenge, and Mr. Beast put up the prize for the showdown.

The race took place on a track in Orlando, Florida, and the Olympian edged out the YouTuber just by the skin of his teeth. IShowSpeed earned praise for his incredible athleticism and challenged Lyles for a rematch. The 27-year-old, however, declined it, remarking that Speed was making excuses after his loss.

"I can listen to your excuses all day, but my fiancée is at home, and I got 100,000 dollars to count just to make sure it's all here. I'd love to chat, but it was good; it was fun. You had fun right, alright, next time, July right, US Nationals, Eugene, Oregon, I'll see you there, right... I can't wait for July," Lyles said while declining.

In an update on their race, Gabby Thomas joined a conversation on X (formerly Twitter) where she disagreed with the notion that Speed had a close finish in the race. She shared the race video and commented:

"This wasn’t close…like at all."

A fan responded to her post writing:

"But we can’t deny that speed is athletic as shit because it’s closer than what most people would’ve ran."

In response to that, Thomas added:

"He definitely is. When he hit that backflip I got scared for Noah."

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"He's fearless" - Gabby Thomas believes Noah Lyles would make the best F1 driver

Gabby Thomas at the Athlos NYC (Source: Getty)

Gabby Thomas graced the US Grand Prix Formula 1 race organized in Austin, Texas, and took part in an F1 Q&A session with GQ Sports on its Instagram handle. When asked about which Olympian would be an ideal fit to be an F1 driver, Thomas replied:

"Noah Lyles could be a really good F1 driver. He's fearless, so yeah." (via GQ Sports' Instagram)

Both Thomas and Lyles blazed trails for the United States at this year's Paris Olympics, where the former claimed America's first 200m gold in 12 years and went on to win two more golds by helping her team win the 4x100m and 4x400m relay golds. In contrast, Lyles stood atop the podium in the 100m event and added a bronze medal in the 200m.