Hunter Woodhall and Noah Lyles | Getty Images

Comparing Olympic gold paycheck, Hunter Woodhall highlights issue with track as he reacts to Noah Lyles winning $100,000 in race against IShowSpeed

Modified Nov 09, 2024 01:16 GMT

Hunter Woodhall reacted to Noah Lyles winning $100,000 in a race against popular streamer IShowSpeed and highlighted the issue of how underpaid track and field is compared to other major sports. Lyles went head to head against IShowSpeed after the latter challenged the Olympic Gold medalist to a race as part of Mr. Beast's upcoming video. Mr Beast challenged to put $100,000 on the line as the prize money for the winner.

Lyles and IShowSpeed were initially contemplating running the 100m; however, they collectively agreed to run the 50m after multiple requests by the streamer. The Paris Olympics 100m gold medalist won the race despite a strong start by IShowSpeed, who claimed to have 'never run track' in his life.

After winning the race, Lyles revealed that he would be donating the prize money to charity. Hunter Woodhall reacted to the race and compared the paycheck that the athlete received at the Olympics. Noah Lyles received a total of $87,500 for winning the gold medal in the men's 100m which included $37,500 from the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee and $50,000 from World Athletics.

He took to threads and wrote:

"Noah only made $87,500 for winning Olympic gold. He made $100,000 for an off-season importu race against a streamer 😂," he wrote.

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Furthermore, he highlighted the fact that track and field was underpaid by mentioning the paychecks from other global events.

"Noah Lyles and Speed raced for 100,000 dollars. To put things into perspective, Noah Lyles made more on this than he made winning the Indoor World Championships $30,000, the Outdoor World Championships - $50,000, and even the Olympic Games. He got more for running a 50m race on social than the Olympic Games" he said.

Hunter Woodhall on winning the gold medal at the Paralympics

Hunter Woodhall during the 2024 Paralympics (Image Source: Getty)

Hunter Woodhall won his first Paralympic gold medal after competing in the track circuit for over a decade which included three appearances in the quadrennial games. The American athlete defeated reigning Olympic Champion, Johannes Floors to win the gold medal in the men's 400m T62 with a performance of 46.36s.

He took to Instagram to reflect on the first gold medal of his career after working hard towards the same goal for many years.

"9 years competing for Majors. This is my first time ever being atop the podium🇺🇸🥇This is my first time being the reason our anthem plays. This is my first time being a Paralympic Champion. So many emotions, mainly just grateful and proud to be an American. All of my other shortcomings prepared me for this just trusting the process and time in the process," he wrote.

Furthermore, he thanked his family and fans for their unwavering support throughout the Olympics as well as urged people to keep dreaming and persevering to achieve their ultimate goal.