USA’s Noah Lyles wins men’s 100m Olympic Gold, beats Jamaica’s Kishane by 0.005 seconds
The United States’ Noah Lyles was crowned the world’s fastest man in the men’s 100m final.
At the Paris Olympics on Saturday, August 4. Kishane Thompson of Jamaica won silver, falling short of the ultimate prize by fractions of a second in one of the closest 100m finals of all time at the Games. USA’s Fred Kerley took home the bronze while Tokyo Olympics champion Jacobs Lamont Marcell of Italy, albeit heavily strapped, finished fifth.
Noah Lyles became the first 100m men’s Olympic champion from the United States since Justin Gatlin won the sprint Gold in 2004. Lyles celebrated the historic achievement as he established himself as one of the modern-day greats in front of a packed Stade de France crowd that was thrilled to bits. Lyles ripped his name from the shirt and held it aloft in delight.
Lyles, 27, took the ultimate prize with a personal best timing of 9.784s despite starting slowly off the blocks. He beat Kushane Thompson by a whisker as the Jamaican clocked 9.789s in a sensational photo finish.
MEN’S 100M FINAL – PARIS OLYMPICS RESULTS
- Gold – Noah Lyles (USA) – 9.784s
- Silver – Kishane Thompson (Jamaica) – 9.789s
- Bronze – Fred Kerley (USA) – 9.810s
The athletes had to wait longer than usual to learn the results as the photo of a blanket finish of the first seven athletes was shown on the big screen. The crowd went berserk when it saw Lyles finishing 0.005s ahead of Kishane to take the Gold.
South Africa’s Akane Simbine, who missed the podium by a whisker in both Rio and Tokyo, once again finished fourth in Paris.
Noah Lyles was among the slowest to get off the blocks, while Kishane Thompson, who topped the semi-finals, raced off it. Lyles was the last at the 30m mark, but came up with a late push to stun Kishane, 23, who was a fraction of a second away from bringing the men’s 100m Gold back to Jamaica.
SPRINT DOUBLE FOR NOAH LYLES IN PARIS?
Noah Lyles won the men’s 100m and 200m double at last year’s World Championships. He came up with an open challenge, saying he would break Usain Bolt’s 200m world record of 19.19s at last year’s world meet. He fell short of the mark despite winning the Gold, clocking 19.52s in Budapest.
Noah Lyles is now the overwhelming favourite to win the men’s 200m Gold at the Paris Games. He has the third-best all-time timing of 19.31s in the event. He achieved the mark at the 2022 World Championships.
HOW NOAH LYLES REACTED TO 100M GOLD
“It’s the one I wanted. It is a hard battle, it is the amazing opponents. Everybody came prepared for the fight and I wanted to prove that I am the man among all of them, I am the wolf amongst wolves,” Lyles said.
Lyles will be in action in Heat 6 in the men’s 200m preliminary round on August 5, Monday. The semi-final of the men’s 200m will be held on August 7 while the final will take place on August 9.