Noah Lyles had to wait a few seconds before he could celebrate his victory. Embraced by his rival Kishane Thompson, the American sprinter looked at the giant screens at the Stade de France and when his triumph in the 100 meters of the Paris 2024 Olympics was confirmed, he erupted in joy.
Lyles tore off the number that was pinned to his chest, showed it to the stands, and began to jump with excitement. The celebration was well-deserved because he is now the fastest man on the planet.
The American had to make a spectacular finish in the final 10 meters and had to stretch his head to surpass Thompson by just five thousandths of a second, having to wait 30 seconds after the end of a very tight sprint to confirm that he had beaten the Jamaican.
Lyles, who faced difficulties in the qualifying rounds and did not run in the center lane, clocked a time of 9.79, identical to Thompson, who took home the silver. Everything was decided by a photo finish.
American Fred Kerley claimed the bronze medal with a time of 9.81.
The race was the closest in the 100 meters at least since Moscow, or perhaps even before. At that time, British runner Allan Wells narrowly defeated Cuban Silvio Leonard in an era where the timing wasn’t measured to the thousandths of a second.
Lyles’ victory brings the United States back to the top of the podium in the premier event of athletics for the first time since Athens 2004 when Justin Gatlin won the gold medal.
Lyles, 27, and a bronze medalist in the 200 meters in Tokyo three years ago, earned his first gold medal in the Olympics.
He arrived at his second Olympics as one of the main attractions, especially after winning three gold medals at the World Championships in Budapest, where he topped the podium in the 100 and 200 meters, as well as in the 4×100 relay.
In Paris, he will seek to repeat that triple and also add another medal in the 4×400 relay to emulate the four golds in a single Summer Games achieved by Carl Lewis, who won a fourth gold in the long jump, in addition to the 100, 200, and the relay.
The American’s next event will begin on Monday in the qualifying rounds of the 200, which is his specialty.
For now, he has a few hours to celebrate.