NBC announcer Leigh Diffey apologized after mistakenly calling a winner in the Paris Olympics 100-meter event Sunday in a close photo finish race.
Diffey was commentating on the track and field competition when he incorrectly proclaimed Jamaican athlete Kishane Thompson the winner of the 100-meter event. The event was a close race that needed to be determined by a photo. It was later declared that American athlete Noah Lyles was the winner.
Diffey apologized for his mistake in a post Monday on Twitter.
“The men’s 100 was epic & closest of all time! My eyes & instinct told me Kishane Thompson won,” he wrote. “Obviously, that wasn’t the case. I shouldn’t have been so bold to call it, but I genuinely thought he won.”
“I got it wrong,” he added.
The men’s 100 was epic & closest of all time! My eyes & instinct told me Kishane Thompson won. Obviously, that wasn’t the case. I shouldn’t have been so bold to call it, but I genuinely thought he won. I got it wrong. I am thrilled for @LylesNoah as his story only gets bigger!
— Leigh Diffey (@leighdiffey) August 5, 2024
In the original broadcast, Diffey can be heard yelling, “This is close! Jamaica is gonna do it. Kishane Thompson is a gold medalist!”
The clip then shows the athletes highly anticipating the official call as Thompson yells, “Come on, man!”
Ato Bolden, an NBC analyst who was working alongside Diffey, also believed Thompson had won the race.
“It was a lean at the tape by Thompson. Visually we think he got it,” Bolden said. “They’re working on the photo.”
Lyles can then be seen celebrating as he is declared the winner.
TOPSHOT – (From bottom) Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, US’ Noah Lyles, Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, South Africa’s Akani Simbine, Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, US’ Fred Kerley and US’ Kenneth Bednarek approach the finish line in the men’s 100m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at 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 calling out the announcer for his quick call.
“I like Leigh Diffey a lot, but he really blew this call, why didn’t he wait, or say, photo finish?” one user wrote. “Declaring Thompson the winner immediately makes this footage unusable.”
Diffey said on Twitter that he was “thrilled” for Lyles “as his story only gets bigger!”
Lyles is the first American to win the Olympic event since Justin Gatlin won 20 years ago, according to The Associated Press (AP). Lyles is set to race in the 200-meter race later in the competition.
Diffey declined further comment to The AP, saying, “I’d rather not fuel the fire.”
“They’re all experts after it’s over, right? I trusted my eyes and instinct and got it wrong by .0005 seconds,” he told the outlet.
The broadcast was tweaked in its replay later Sunday, The AP reported.
