Zaire Franklin feuds with Noah Lyles as he trashes sprinter after Olympic gold medal win

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: Sprinter Noah Lyles’ Olympic gold has pleased everyone, except perhaps Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin. 

Franklin, who woke up to the news of Lyles clinching the gold in men’s 100m final on Sunday, August 4, at the Paris Games, had no qualms in sharing what he thought about the sprinter.

Zaire Franklin shades Noah Lyles

During Sunday’s men’s 100m race, Noah Lyles outran Jamaica's Kishane Thompson by five thousandths (0.005) of a second to win the track and field event. 

The news, however, did not impress Zaire Franklin, 28. He took to his social media to share his thoughts.

Franklin wrote on Monday, August 5, “Noah Lyles is my least favorite American. Good morning.”

It is, however, unclear whether Franklin and Lyles have had a beef between them.

Noah Lyles' past feud with NBA stars

While Noah Lyles’ involvement in a feud with Zaire Franklin is not known, his bad blood with NBA stars is quite famous. 

Last year in August, the sprinter shaded the NBA players for bragging about winning a “world championship".

He said that since they have not beaten teams from other parts of the world, they can really not be called “the best of the best", per Daily Mail.

Lyles shared, “World champion of what? The United States?” before adding, “Don't get me wrong, I love the US, at times. But that ain't the world... there ain't no flags in the NBA."

His words naturally elicited not-so-favorable reactions from the NBA stars, including a few who are on the Team USA roster for the Olympics like Kevin Durant and Bam Adebayo. 

Nevertheless, the NBA stars were present at the Stade de France to cheer for Lyles when he clinched the gold medal. 

New York Knicks guard Josh Hart even gave a shoutout to Lyles while referencing their old feud. 

He wrote on X, “Lol na he an Olympic gold medalist. He can talk for life.”

Internet reacts to Zaire Franklin shading Noah Lyles

As Zaire Franklin made his cryptic post about Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles, the internet was quick to respond.

A user shared, "He’s a world champion, something that you’re not and definitely will not be. One because the NFL is not a world championship and you play for the Colts so you’re not getting anywhere near a championship."

Someone else said, "Ldk why you care you’ll never be world champion at anything."

Another fan said, "Still the 100m gold medal winner."

Someone else asked the inevitable question, "Why hate just to hate?"

"Why do we not like him?" asked another.

A user reasoned, "No reason to hate the guy. He loves his country and is the ‘best in the world’ at what he does."

"Why is there so much dislike towards him," asked another disgruntled fan.

A user  said, "Now I have another NFl team to dislike and root against."

"Least favorite American with a gold medal*," reminded someone else.

A tweet read, "I can name more ppl that are worse than a man that is just confident in his ability."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.