Massive Mistake Uncovered As American Sprinter 'Breaks' Usain Bolt's World Record

For a split second, it looked like Noah Lyles had shattered Usain Bolt's 200m world record.

But, as Lyles very quickly found out, things weren't quite as they seemed.

While competing in the Inspiration Games, the 22-year-old clocked a rapid time of 18.90 seconds in the 200m event.

With Jamaican megastar Bolt's own time standing at an impressive 19.19 seconds, American sprinter Lyle had effectively broken the world record - leaving race commentators in disbelief.

No one, apart from Lyles, had ever run sub-19 seconds over the same distance.

Except Lyles wasn't running 200m. He was actually running 185m.

The American's joy was very short-lived as event organisers quickly realised he'd been given the wrong starting lane - meaning he'd only completed 185m, not 200m.

Coming up short by 15m, Lyles was subsequently disqualified from the race and Christophe Lemaitre of France was handed the victory.

With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to impact live sporting events, the Zurich Diamond League put the competition together with athletes facing each other from all parts of the globe.

For track events, starting guns were fired simultaneously around the world with split screens used to broadcast the races.

Unfortunately for Lyle, who was running his race on U.S. soil in Florida, a simple mistake with his starting position came back to bite him.

Topics: Coronavirus, Athletics, Australia

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry