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Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Lyles was crowned the world's fastest man on Sunday night when the men's 100-meter final was held in Stade de France. After a delayed start to the race, the eight runners took off, ending in a photo finish.
Lyles came out on top with a time of 9.79 seconds, beating out Kishane Thompson, who was also at 9.79 seconds but finished five-thousandths of a second behind Lyles. American runner Fred Kerley got bronze with a time of 9.81 seconds.
It was one of the most exciting events of this year's Olympics, and it had a ton of buildup. The 100-meter sprint is always a mainstage event at the Olympics, but this year, Lyles had been building up anticipation with his outstanding fashion that includes beaded hair and painted fingernails, cocky persona, and bold and brash predictions.
Now, he's lived up to the hype and become an Olympic superstar!
Many fans online have been praising Lyles for his showmanship, style, and willingness to break from traditional masculinity.
NBA hall-of-famer Dwyane Wade, who is the father of a transgender daughter, posted his praise for Lyles on Twitter, saying "And he got his nails painted, say something" after he won the gold.
Scroll through to see more positive reactions, and the reactions of his haters.
Others got straight to the point, calling Lyles gay and anti-gay slurs and saying that he is a bad role model for young men.
However, those people are sitting at home. Lyles is in Paris with one gold medal and possibly more to come. It's pretty clear that he won more than just his race this weekend.
Christian Liewig/Corbis via Getty Images
