Social media users were stunned on Wednesday when IShowSpeed and Olympian Noah Lyles faced off in a surprisingly close race for $100,000.
The online entertainer featured Lyles during a livestream on his YouTube channel, where the pair took to a court and faced each other more than 50 yards away.
And while six-time world champion Lyles ultimately won, Speed actually led for part of the race before his competitor took the lead in the final stretch.
Speed initially claimed the race was tied, while Lyles noted that he started taking high strides after taking the lead.
Nevertheless, X users were extremely impressed with Speed’s performance.
iShowSpeed was surprisingly able to keep up with Noah Lyles for much of the 50-meter race
Lyles ultimately pulled ahead of his competitor, but the race was closer than expected
“No, the fact that the speed even came close to beating him is insane,” said one.
“Speed Deada** could have gone pro in multiple sports,” said another.
A third said: ‘It was closer than I thought… That’s crazy.’
And Michael Babcock of TMZ Sports said, ‘Wild. @ishowspeedsui is a top athlete and no one can convince me otherwise. Hanging with @LylesNoah.”
Ultimately, with clear video evidence of the race, Speed admitted that Lyles “barely won” before the runner promised to donate the money to charity.
Lyles won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the Olympic Games in Paris last summer
The track star narrowly claimed gold in the 100 meters in Paris, but was unable to complete the double as he finished third in the 200 metres.
It was later revealed that he was battling Covid and ran the race while extremely ill.
The American recently got engaged to fellow Olympian Junelle Bromfield.
Lyles, 27, and Bromfield, 26, have been dating since 2022 after meeting on the track.