NBC announcer Lee Diffie has apologized for incorrectly calling the winner of a close photo-finish 100-meter race at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
While commentating on track and field events, Diffie mistakenly announced that Jamaica's Kishane Thompson had won the 100 metres, an event that was so close it required a photographic decision, before American Noah Lyles was declared the winner.
Diffie apologized for his mistake on Twitter on Monday.
“The men's 100m was epic and the closest race ever! My eyes and instincts were telling me Kishane Thompson had won,” he said. I have written“Of course he didn't. I shouldn't have been so bold in predicting it, but I genuinely thought he'd won.”
“I was wrong,” he added.
The Men's 100m was epic and the closest race ever! My eyes and instincts were telling me that Kishane Thompson had won. Of course he didn't. I shouldn't have been so bold in my prediction, but I genuinely thought he had won. I was wrong. Lyles Noah His story is only getting bigger!
— Leigh Diffey (@leighdiffey) August 5, 2024
In the original broadcast, Diffie can be heard yelling, “It's close! Jamaica is going to win. Kishane Thompson is the gold medalist!”
The video then shows players anxiously awaiting the official decision, with Thompson yelling, “Go for it!”
Ato Bolden, an NBC analyst who worked with Diffie, also believed Thompson had won.
“Thompson was leaning in on the video, and I think we got a visual,” Bolden said. “We're in the process of editing the photo.”
Lyles is then declared the winner and can be seen celebrating.
TOP SHOT – (From bottom) Lamont Marcel Jacobs of Italy, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, Noah Lyles of the United States, Oblique Sevilla of Jamaica, Akani Simbine of South Africa, Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, Fred Curley of the United States and Kenneth Bednarek of the United States approach the finish line during the men's 100 metres athletics final of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 4, 2024. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP) (Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)
Viewers took to social media to slam the announcer for his quick call.
“I love Lee Diffie but he really got this call wrong. Why didn't he wait or say photo finish?” one user said. I have written“Once we declare Thompson the winner, this footage will immediately become unavailable.”
Diffie said on Twitter that Lyles' “story just keeps getting bigger and I'm so excited.”
Lyles is the first American to win an Olympic title since Justin Gatlin two decades ago. Associated Press (Associated Press) Lyles is scheduled to compete in the 200-meter dash later in the meet.
“I don't want to add fuel to the fire,” Diffie told The Associated Press, declining to comment further.
“At the end of the day, everyone's an expert, right? I trusted my eyes and my instincts and I was wrong by 0.0005 seconds,” he told media.
The broadcast was corrected in a rebroadcast later Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
