Noah Lyles silenced his naysayers the world over Sunday night in Paris by chasing down Jamaican and fellow American rivals in the 100m final, solidifying his unofficial title as the world’s fastest man of 2024.
The three-time world 200m champion has finally cracked the code to running and winning championship 100m races. He won his first 100m final last season in Budapest and claimed his first Olympic gold of any distance tonight.
The American crossed the line in a personal best (PB) of 9.79, finally breaking the 9.80 barrier in one of the closest photo finishes ever.
“America, I told you; I got this,” Noah Lyles shouted in celebration after the race results were confirmed.
The 27-year-old came into the Games surrounded by plenty of noise and drama.
His disclosure of some Jamaican training camp rifts while on the Track World News podcast in July only seemed to inflame things even more.
He even made a few waves outside of track and field last year when he referenced the faulty semantics of many North American-based sports leagues crowning their champions, specifically singling out the NBA.
Plenty of resentment had always been brewing over his playful nature and constant showboating antics, which were usually accompanied by brash trash talk.
The fact that he has boldly taken aim at Usain Bolt’s crown had rubbed many Jamaican fans the wrong way, despite Bolt himself publicly embracing this part of Lyles’ persona at the 2023 Racers Grand Prix.
This was amplified when Time featured him on the cover of their magazine in July with the accompanying caption, “THE WORLD’S FASTEST MAN NOAH LYLES IS BRINGING HIS SPEED TO THE GAMES.”
Many felt like he hadn’t done enough to earn that title. Although he is the reigning world champion, he historically had not run much faster in the 100m than many of his peers. His previous personal best (PB) of 9.83 had plenty of company.
In fact, he had even lost to the likes of Oblique Seville at the 2024 Racers Grand Prix in Kingston back in June. Seville famously looked back at Lyles as he crossed the finish line 9.82 to 9.85.
He arrived in France with the third-fastest time in the world this season (9.81) after eventual silver medalist from Jamaica Kishane Thompson, who ran 9.77 at his national trials this season, and Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala (9.79), who didn’t even make the final.
Noah Lyles Breaks the 9.80 Barrier in Historic 100m Olympic Win
Lyles saved his best race ever for the best time ever.
After qualifying semi-comfortably in his semifinal heat, finishing second to Seville 9.81 to 9.83, he automatically advanced, albeit not into a preferred inside lane.
At the start, he entered the stadium with his usual childlike exuberance, hyping himself up before getting settled into his lane 7 starting blocks.
He was joined by both 100m teammates Fred Kerley (Tokyo silver medalist) and Kenny Bednarek. Semifinal heat winners Thompson, Seville, and South African Akani Simbine took up lanes 4, 5, and 6. To round out the field were Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, who won silver in Budapest, and none other than reigning Olympic champion Lamont Marcel Jacobs, who was looking to make some history of his own with a potential repeat.
It was a pretty even start from the gun, with Simbine, Seville, Thompson, and Kerley getting the best of the field. As the race progressed, the larger frames of Kerley and Thompson began to gain inches on everyone, but not quickly enough to evade Lyles’ signature top-end speed. By 60m, Lyles had pulled even with everyone but the two aforementioned leaders.
Over the last 30m, Lyles sailed even with Thompson, who had out-muscled Kerley for a certain win, and with a subtle, timely lean at the line… seemingly gave Thompson a scare, yet hard-fought victory.
After about a minute’s pause to cipher through the results, Lyles had not only scared but stunned the Jamaican and the rest of the world for a finish for the ages.
“After the race, when we were waiting for the names to pop up, I was like, ‘I think you got that one, big dawg,’” Lyles confessed about his premature congratulatory concession hug with Thompson.
By five-thousandths of a second, Lyles out-leaned Thompson 9.784 to 9.789. Kerley finished third in 9.81.
“I couldn’t really see Noah (Lyles) based on what lane we were in,” said Thompson. “When we both crossed the line, as he said, he came to me and said, ‘Hey man, I think you got it,’ I was like, I’m not even sure since it was that close.”
“It all comes down to who dips the fastest,” said Kerley to NBC news.
In fourth place was Simbine, who set a national record (NR) for South Africa in 9.82. Tokyo champ Jacobs was fifth in 9.85, while Tebogo, like his fellow African, set a NR for Botswana in 9.86. Bednarek was seventh in 9.88, and Seville faded to eighth in 9.91.
This is the first Olympic Games where every 100m finalist completed the race in under 10 seconds. Seven athletes ran under 9.90 seconds. Only 0.12 seconds separated first from last.
Lyles, the Alexandria, Va. native, is the first American to win 100m Olympic gold since Justin Gatlin in 2004 and has hopes to become the first American man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to complete the Olympic sprint double as he prepares for the 200m heats on Monday.
Noah Lyles Embraces Girlfriend Junelle Bromfield After Winning 100m Olympic Gold
After Lyles embraced his mother and girlfriend, Jamaican 400m sprinter Junelle Bromfield, he rang the victory bell and, while still draped in the red, white, and blue, emulated his favorite anime character Goku of the Dragon Ball franchise by pretending to shoot a Kamehameha blast in ultimate triumph.
“I was always the fastest man in the world,” said Lyles to NBC. “Now I just got medals to prove it.”
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