NBC News Sportscaster Leigh Diffey had to issue a public apology, because that's what we have to do in 2024

I cannot believe an announcer, who saw exactly what we saw, and came to the same visual conclusion almost all of us initially did, and got excited announcing what he saw, has to apologize for saying what most of us thought.

We were all as surprised and excited when the photo finish was revealed and Kishane Thompson was announced the winner. He immediately corrected himself and celebrated in the moment like we all did. End of story.

NBC, always tucking its tail under its legs, groveling at the feet of sensitive society. Wouldn't want to offend anyone.

I would never have apologized.

Link to story. Copied and pasted as-is. Any photos not pasted over just didn't make it  over. I wasn't going to work to edit this crap story.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nbcs-leigh-diffey-admits-fault-after-erroneously-calling-kishane-thompson-as-100-meter-winner-over-noah-lyles-125921385.html

NBC's Leigh Diffey admits fault after erroneously calling Kishane Thompson as 100-meter winner over Noah Lyles

jack baer
Staff writer
·3 min read
171

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As Noah Lyles crossed the finish line for the most important win of his career at the Paris Olympics, his home country was hearing a different story.

NBC's Leigh Diffey unintentionally added to the chaos of Sunday's 100-meter dash when he proclaimed Jamaica's Kishane Thompson had won and not Lyles, who had surged from last place to force a photo finish. As other announcers around the world, such as the BBC, remarked that they didn't know who won, Diffey took a different tack:

"There's an Olympic gold medal waiting for somebody, who wants it the most? Now Thompson starts to wind up. Kerley's going with him. This is close. Jamaica's going to do it! Kishane Thompson is a gold medalist!"

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Thompson, of course, isn't a gold medalist. The photo at the finish line revealed Lyles' torso had crossed the finish line before Thompson's by a margin of five thousandths of a second.

One day later, Diffey issued a mea culpa on social media, admitting he erred by feeling confident enough to proclaim Thompson the winner and expressing his happiness for Lyles.

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The Australian Diffey is an announcer who usually works in auto racing, but has been part of NBC's Olympics coverage since 2014.

To be fair to Diffey, he wasn't alone in thinking Thompson had won. Lyles himself thought Thompson had beaten him and even told him as much as they waited for the video board to show the winner:

"After the race, we were waiting for the names to pop up and I'm going to be honest, I came over, I was like 'I think you got the Olympics, dawg.' He was out there in Lane 4 and I was in Lane 7 and I couldn't really see what was going on over there, so I just had to keep running like I was going to win it. Something said 'I need to lean' and I was like 'I'm gonna lean.'

Lyles also said he thought he would "really have to swallow my pride" at the end of the race.

SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 04: Noah Lyles (L) of US and Kishane Thompson (R) of Jamaika wait for the results of the competition during the men's 100m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 4, 2024. (Photo by Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The 100-meter dash between Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson was decided by a fraction of a blink at the Paris Olympics. (Photo by Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Of course, Lyles was more focused on moving forward than looking at his competitors. Diffey had one of the best seats in the house, watched the pack of runners go by and thought the man in the bright yellow suit was the clear enough winner to say as much.

This stuff has happened before and will happen again as long as the Olympics are broadcast, but it's now an inextricable part of how Lyles' rise to the top of the track world will be remembered.

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