Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles gave fans an interesting detail about his childhood sharing that he “grew up in a cult.”
On the latest episode of the Everybody Wants to Be Us podcast, Lyles revealed why it wasn't a “we're gonna drink the Kool-Aid” kind of group but he did “[grow] up in a cult.”
He added that he the group was “super strict” and demanded that the moms to homeschool their children. Lyles also shared that the group believed that “the father was the head of the household.”
In addition to the “cult” wanting kids to be homeschooled and that men were the leader of the nuclear family unit, the “church told you who you could date, who you couldn’t date,” and all marriages were had to “through” the church.
“And we left and that's why we went to North Carolina,” the Olympian explained, adding that it didn't go as planned.
Lyles found that the new church “wanted to do the same thing.” The Olympian told the host that his family, which also consists of his brother Josephus and sister Abby, had decided to leave the new church.
The Virginia native spoke about the effects the “cults” had on his mother. “She still struggles to trust churches in general, but she never lost her faith in the religion, and I think instilled that in us,” Lyles said of his mother. It made it easier for me to go throughout my own journey.”
When it comes to his faith now, he uses an idea that his mother has instilled in him despite the lost trust in the churches.
“When I was young, she said, ‘When you lack faith, ask for a test and he will provide the test.'”
Lyles won gold in the men's 100m race at the 2024 Olympics and took home bronze in the men's 200m.
Take a look at Lyle's full interview below:
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