Track-and-field star Noah Lyles gained recognition for his gold medal win for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but more recently, he has made headlines for revealing that he grew up “in a cult.”
The 27-year-old Olympian disclosed this during an interview on the “Everybody Wants to Be Us” podcast, released on August 12. The gold medalist explained, “It was a cult. It just wasn’t at the level of, ‘Yeah, OK, we’re gonna drink the Kool-Aid.’ But it was super strict.”
He continued, “All the moms had to homeschool their kids, and the father was the head of the household. The church told you who you could date, who you couldn’t date. If you got married, it had to be through them. That type of behavior.”
Coming from a Christian family, Noah struggled with understanding his beliefs after being part of a cult at a very young age. After leaving North Carolina, he noted, “That kind of really messed up my view of the church, and it definitely messed up my mom’s view. Even now, she still struggles to trust churches in general, but she never lost her faith in the religion.”
Reflecting on the challenges in their personal lives, he recalled the insightful words his mother, Keisha Caine, had once shared with him: “‘God says when you lack faith, ask for a test, and he will provide the test.’” He sought God’s help during his freshman year of high school to join the World Youth track-and-field team. Soon enough, he made the team as the “youngest person” to qualify and earned the ninth spot in the world.
Lyles’ revelation came shortly after he took home a victory at the Paris Games, where he won gold in the men’s 100-meter race and secured a bronze medal in the men’s 200-meter race, despite competing with COVID-19. “I can go out there and still put on a great performance, and it’s an all-or-nothing scenario because nothing is promised tomorrow. So, I might as well take advantage of today,” he told People in reference to his health at the time.
