“Olympic Runner Noah Lyles Opens Up About His Upbringing in a ‘Super Strict’ Cult”
Noah Lyles is reflecting on his family history.
The Olympic sprinter, who won a gold and a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 games, shared about his religious upbringing in what he called a “cult-like” environment.
“I actually grew up in a cult,” he mentioned on the Everyone Wants To Be Us podcast on Aug. 12 with a chuckle. “Well, it wasn’t—it was a cult, it just didn’t reach the extreme of, ‘Yeah, okay, we’re gonna drink Kool-Aid.’ But it was extremely strict.”
The 27-year-old, who made news for winning a bronze medal in the 200m race despite testing positive for COVID, went on to outline some of the organization’s unidentified rules.
“All mothers were required to homeschool their children, and the father was the head of the household,” he elaborated. “The church dictated who you could and couldn’t date. If you decided to marry, it had to go through us, that kind of control.”
In time, his family—including his parents Kevin Lyles and Keisha Caine—opted to depart from that environment.