Gold Medalist Noah Lyles Reveals He Grew up in a Cult: ‘Definitely Messed Up’

Fresh off his success at the 2024 Paris Olympics , Noah Lyles is shedding light on his childhood.

“I actually grew up in a cult,” the track-and-field star, 27, revealed during a recent episode of the “Everybody Wants to Be Us” podcast . “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.”

Without naming the organization, Lyles went on to share: “All the moms had to be homeschooling their kids and the father was the head of the household, and 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.”

As a result of the harsh rules, Lyles and his family left the organization and moved to North Carolina. “We were going to start [at] another church, only to figure out they wanted to do the same thing except they wanted to be the head instead of, not the tail,” he explained. “So, we left that, but that kind of really messed up my view [of the] church, and it definitely messed up my mom’s view, so it took her a long time. And even now, she still struggles to trust churches in general, but she never lost her faith in the religion.”

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Lyles noted he struggled with his beliefs after the experience, but some wise words from his mother, Keisha Caine , helped him rebuild his faith. “Everybody gets that idea of, you know, ‘Is there really a God?’ And something that I love is when I was young, she said, ‘God says when you lack faith, ask for a test, and he will provide the test,’” he noted. “And I was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna ask for the test.’”

He proceeded to ask for his “test” in ninth grade after he got sick with the swine flu ahead of the World Youth track-and-field team trials.

“[I said], ‘God, if you can provide me a way to make this team, I’m not gonna deny it anymore that this is your plan.’ I made the team,” he shared. “I was the youngest person to make the team, and I made the team as an alternate but got to run and made it all the way to being ranked ninth in the world. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m sold.’”

After winning bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Lyles became a three-time Olympic medalist at the 2024 Paris Games earlier this month. He took home gold in the men’s 100-meter final on August 4 and won bronze in the men’s 200-meter final four days later. The latter race marked the end of Lyles’ Paris Olympics journey as he was diagnosed with COVID-19 , causing him to withdraw from the men’s 4x100 Meter relay on August 9.

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“[I was like] ‘Let’s try and keep this as normal as possible,’ knowing that I’ve handled stuff like this in the past,” Lyles said of competing in the men’s 200-meter final with COVID in a Sunday, August 11, interview with People . “I’ve run very close to after having contracted COVID , many times.”

He continued: “[It’s about] knowing that I was made for moments like this and I’ve trained all my life. I know that 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.”