World champion Noah Lyles roared to victory in 9.79sec to claim gold in a dramatic men’s Olympic 100m final in Paris on Sunday.
Lyles won in the closest Olympic 100m finish in modern history as just five thousandths of a second separated him from Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson.
Both were given the rounded-up time of 9.79sec but the American’s name carried the all-important (.784) to Thompson’s (.789.)
It made Lyles the first American, male or female, to win the event since Justin Gatlin took gold in the 2004 Athens Games.
“It’s the one I wanted,” said Lyles, whose winning time was a personal best. “It’s the hard battle, it’s the amazing opponents.
“Everybody’s healthy, everybody came prepared for the fight and I wanted to prove that I’m the man amongst all of them. I’m the wolf amongst wolves.”
Lyles’ victory was only confirmed after a photo-finish.
The American said of the wait for the final results: “I went up to Kishane and I was like, ‘I’m going to be honest, bro, I think you had that one’.
“And I was fully prepared to see his name pop up and to see my name pop up, I’m like goodness gracious. I’m incredible.”
Lyles added: “It’s been a rollercoaster, ups and downs.
“I’m usually a guy who likes to come out blazing in all my rounds, especially in the 200m. But the 100m, it’s my first time here on the Olympic stage.”
Not ‘fresh enough’
The relatively unknown Thompson, the fastest man this year with a best of 9.77sec, said he hadn’t been “fresh enough” over the final 30 metres.
“I couldn’t really see Lyles, I wasn’t sure,” 23-year-old Thompson said of the photo-finish. “It was that close.
“I’m going to take it and move forward from here,” he said. “Everybody loves a winner so I would have loved to win today, but I loved the competition overall.”
Lyles’ US teammate Fred Kerley took bronze in 9.81sec, just one-hundredth ahead of South African Akani Simbine, who timed 9.82sec.
“I don’t feel any frustration because I’m facing the best in the world,” said Kerley, the 2022 world champion and Olympic silver medallist over 100m three years ago at the Tokyo Games.
“At the end of the day, not many people can say they came to the Olympic Games,” Kerley said. “Whoever came off the best is the best. It’s my second time around and I’m going off with a medal.”
In an astonishing race, defending champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy was fifth in 9.85sec, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo sixth in 9.86sec, American Kenny Bednarek seventh in 9.88sec and Jamaican Oblique Seville eighth in 9.91sec.
Starting in lane seven, outside Seville and inside Tebogo, Lyles got off to an average start but was soon into his stride pattern.
Head tucked down through to the 40-metre mark, the American opened up, but the whole field pushed him all the way.
As Lyles dipped for the line with Thompson charging alongside him, the crowd erupted and a photo-finish was called before Lyles was confirmed as gold medallist.
Tense buildup
There was an electric pre-race atmosphere in a 69,000-capacity Stade de France, a light show and booming music keeping the crowd entertained as the sprinters adjusted their starting blocks.
The lights then went off and the sprinters leaving the track to remake their entrance like prize fighters in a colosseum, with each sprinter individually introduced behind an image of their name above their flag.
Thompson roared, hands clenched in fists as his head rolled back. Kerley patted his heart.
Lyles bounded out like a kangaroo, bouncing 20 metres down the track. Jacobs was the definition of cool, raising both arms and calmly walking to his blocks.
Then came the moment where the sprinters set, at the starter’s beck and call.
The wait seemed interminable. The music continued, the crowd clapped in unison, then the sprinters stood in their lanes, rocking from foot to foot and the tension was palpable, while the only sound was that of a helicopter whirring overhead.
The shot was fired and the field moved as if one up the purple track to the dramatic denouement.
The photo-finish officials examined the evidence and Lyles walked away with gold to bury the demons of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago where he harvested a mere 200m bronze.
Asked whether he was confident of doubling up in the 200m, an event in which he is a three-time world champion, Lyles was in no doubt.
“100 percent,” he said. “That’s my better event and now that I’ve got a new PR in the 100, I’m ready to take it to the 200.”