Noah Lyles is never going to back down from a challenge to his crown as the world’s fastest man, even from a YouTube streamer.
After a viral moment in which streamer iShowSpeed challenged Lyles to a race, the two met on Wednesday night to put their speed to the test.
The race, which “Speed” streamed on his YouTube channel to hundreds of thousands of viewers, was shockingly competitive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZXefjyU-eM
After showing off with his signature backflips and exaggerated stretching, Speed was close with Lyles for half the race before the 100-meter gold medalist separated himself. To rub in his win, Lyles even started leaping like Mario and laughing back at Speed as he crossed the finish line.
Speed didn’t see his loss as a diminishment of his talent.
“Raw speed, I’m faster than you,” he told Lyles. “You’re using Olympic gold medalist technique, I’m using Ohio s**t.”
Remember, Speed is the same young man who challenged Kevin Durant to a game of HORSE before the NBA season and has no shortage of confidence. In October, he tried to break the world record for most backflips in a day but fell short.
As far as content creators go, 19-year-old Speed (real name Darren Watkins Jr.) is an incredible athlete.
That’s probably why the NFL and soccer leagues have targeted him as a key influencer, even including him in promotions and ad campaigns. Speed is part of the NFL Creator of the Week program and got exclusive access to the Super Bowl, NFL Draft, and Brazil game this year through a partnership with the league.
“IRL” (in-real-life) streamers like Speed are increasingly popular on platforms like YouTube, Twitch and Kick. Unlike gaming streamers like Sketch or stationary camera streamers like Kai Cenat, IRL streamers often use sports as an element of their content, competing in events or games.
Think Dude Perfect, only live and catered to an even younger audience.
Rather than waiting for the World Championships or the 2028 Olympics to see Lyles’ next race, fans of Speed got to see the world’s fastest man sprinting on a random track in California — and nearly getting beaten by their favorite streamer.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.