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At the 2024 Paris Olympics, American Noah Lyles won the Olympic men’s 100m title by five thousandths of a second, beating Jamaican Kishane Thompson in a dramatic sprint.
The showman, Lyles, overtook his opponents in the second half of the race to win the championship with a personal best time of 9.79 seconds.
At the time, Thompson, who was participating in the Olympics for the first time, was also in the leading position. Although he was in the lead for most of the game, Lyles finally finished the game with an amazing performance and successfully won four gold medals in this Olympics.
Former world champion Fred Kerley of the United States won the bronze medal with a time of 9.81, beating Akani Simbine of South Africa to the podium.
In the frenetic atmosphere of the Stade de France, to the sound of exciting music, after a long wait, all eight finalists were behind the starting line, within 0.12 seconds of Lyles, it was a wonderful race.
The standard in the final was perfect, with Britain’s Zharnel Hughes and Louie Hinchliffe failing to match that level, Italy’s defending champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs just missing out on a medal, and another Jamaican rising star, Oblique Seville, finishing last with a time of 9.91.
Finally, when the official results appeared on the big screen, Lyles, an athlete who has excelled on sport’s grandest stage, winning three gold medals at last year’s world championships, sprinted off to celebrate.
After establishing himself at the top of track and field, ringing the victory bell again and again on the trackside, the 27-year-old athlete is aiming for greater success in the 200m and relay events.
“You couldn’t have expected a moment as great as this,” Lyles told BBC Sport.
“I had to play every round well, and I was a little unhappy after the first round, so I went on the offensive and ran a 9.83.
“I hope you guys enjoyed Noah because I have a lot more in the works!”
Lyles has always been outspoken and firmly believes that he has enough ability on the track and aura off the track to replace Usain Bolt as the new superstar in men’s track and field.
Although the American said these words, he still stuck to his point of view at the most critical moment.
Last year, Lyles became the first man since Bolt in 2015 to win world championships gold medals in both the 100m and 200m, before completing a triple crown in the 4x100m relay.
Lyles claimed during his build-up to the Paris Olympics that he hoped to compete in the 4x400m relay in the French capital and he also hinted at his form when he set a personal best in the 100m at the London Diamond League last month.
But to repeat such success under the enormous pressure (much of it self-imposed) on these stages is another matter entirely.
He has now become the first American to win the Olympic 100m title in 20 years, following Justin Gatlin in 2004, and has become the best male sprinter of our time.
A three-time world 200m champion, he will be looking to maintain his stranglehold on the sport’s major title in the event, which starts on Monday.
If he can do that, he will be one step closer to sporting immortality, winning a historic four gold medals at these Olympics.
(BBC Sport)
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