Noah Lyles recently appeared on an episode of the Everybody Wants To Be Us podcast where he discussed religion and revealed he grew up in a cult. The episode was released after he won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. He shared intricate details of being in a cult in his childhood days.
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Noah Lyles shares his days in the cult
Lyles revealed a surprising element from his childhood he grew up in a cult. He began with, “I actually grew up in a cult.” he then explained the details of the cult. He said, “It was a cult. It just wasn’t at the level of, ‘Yeah, okay. We’re gonna drink the Kool-Aid.’ It was super strict.”
As Lyles explained, the cult demanded all the moms “had to be homeschooling their kids” and they shared a common belief that “the father was the head of the household.” He also mentioned that the church instructed individuals on who could date and who couldn’t. All the marriages were supposed to go “through” the church, as reported by People.
Hence, he said, ‘And we left and that’s why we went to North Carolina.” The family had the intention of joining a new church, Lyles explained, however, the new ones also wanted them to do the same things. The gold medallist shared, “So, we left that, but that kind of really messed up my view of church and it definitely messed up my mom’s view.”
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Lyles’ mother’s struggles with the cult
The 27-year-old shared that it took his mother to overcome the ways of the church and move past the situation. He said, “And even now, she still struggles to trust churches in general, but she never lost her faith in the religion and I think instilled that in us. It made it easier for me to go throughout my own journey.”
He praised his mother for showing immense strength, and courage and “asking” to be tested. He divulged what his mother used to say when he was a child, “When you lack faith, ask for a test and he will provide the test.’ “
The athlete survived the symptoms of swine flu in ninth grade during trials for the World Youth track-and-field team and became the youngest World Youth team as he believed in his mother’s words. And the athlete did it again as he ran the tracks just days after surviving COVID-19 symptoms at the Paris Olympics.
