For a few moments on Sunday Kishane Thompson was an Olympic champion, to fans in the United States at least.
As the runners crossed the line in an exceedingly close finish to the men’s 100m, NBC’s Leigh Diffey immediately called the race for the Jamaican.
“There’s an Olympic gold medal waiting for anybody, who wants it the most? Now Thompson starts to wind up,” remarked Diffey on NBC’s broadcast. “Kerley is accompanying him. This is near. Jamaica’s going to do it! Kishane Thompson is a gold medalist!”
Except he wasn’t. Broadcasters such as the BBC in the UK declined to announce a winner until the results of a photo finish came in. And when they did, USA’s Noah Lyles was proclaimed the new champion.
On Monday, Diffey apologized on X for his error.
The men’s 100 was epic & closest of all time! My eyes & instinct told me Kishane Thompson won. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. I shouldn’t have been so bold to call it, but I genuinely thought he won. I got it wrong. I am thrilled for @LylesNoah as his story only gets bigger! — Leigh Diffey (@leighdiffey) August 5, 2024
“The men’s 100 was the greatest and tightest race ever! “Kishane Thompson won, in my opinion and instinct informed me,” he added. That obviously wasn’t the situation. I really believed he had won, even if I shouldn’t have been so brave as to declare it. I made a mistake. I’m ecstatic for @LylesNoah because his tale will only grow!
Diffey, an Australian by birth who moved to the UK and then the US to further his career, covers the Olympics and motorsports for NBC.
Diffey wasn’t the only one who believed Thompson had prevailed. Lyles acknowledged that he believed he had lost the race by a minuscule margin and taken second place.
“To be honest, when we were waiting for the names to appear after the race, I came over and said, ‘I think you got the Olympics, dawg.'” After the race, Lyles remarked, “I couldn’t really see what was going since I was in lane 7 and he was in lane 4. “I kept running as though I would win. I sensed something telling me to lean. That kind of race it is. It was absurd.
Diffey will have more opportunities to determine Lyles’s final position. This week, the American is also aiming for gold in the 200-meter, 4×100-meter, and maybe the 4×400-meter events.
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