Noah Lyles wins Olympic men’s 100m gold in photo finish; Kishane Thompson takes silver ahead of Fred Kerley - all results
It’s official. Noah Lyles is the fastest man in the world.
However, nobody could have predicted what it would take him to claim that title.
On a night of spectacle and drama in the Stade de France, the American produced the race of his life to win the Paris 2024 men’s 100m title in the closest of photo finishes.
The reigning world champion dipped at the line in 9.784 to pip Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson (9.789) to the gold medal by just five-thousandths of a second, as the USA’s Fred Kerley claimed bronze in 9.81.
"I went up to Kishane and I was like, 'I'm gonna be honest, I think you had that one'," a beaming Lyles told Eurosport after the race. "I was fully prepared to see his name pop up. and to see my name pop, I'm like, 'goodness gracious, I'm incredible'."
Lyles came into the race as the reigning world champion in both the 100m and 200m but he wasn’t the fastest man this year.
That title belonged to Thompson, whose time of 9.77 seconds at the Jamaican trials was 0.04 faster than Lyles had ever run.
But Lyles showed supreme speed and the pure determination of a champion to claim a spectacular victory. Thompson, who is making his Olympic debut in Paris, battled valiantly but will leave the stadium this evening ruing how close he came to gold.
"Honestly it's not just that I didn't win the gold, it's that I didn't better myself in that sense," a devastated Thompson said after the final. "Today I really gained a lot of experience running with all these great competitors. Big up to all of them. But I really beat myself today in that I didn't trust myself and my speed to bring myself to the line in first place."
Noah Lyles: the ultimate showman with a curious mindset
Even before the race began, this 100m final was oozing with drama.
A light show that took place before the athletes entered the track made the entire stadium look like a flock of multi-coloured fireflies before a DJ blasted out electronic music while the athletes waited patiently on the start line.
Yet if there was anyone who could match the mood in the stadium it was Lyles, a showman with the ability to transcend his sport - and keep his cool in knee-shaking circumstances.
“When I saw my name [on the scoreboard], I was like, I didn’t do this against a slow field,” Lyles said in a press conference after the race. “I did this against the best of the best on the biggest stage with the biggest pressure.”
While others feel nerves when faced with the big occasion, Lyles has consistently shown the ability to rise above them. However, never has he proved how high he could rise more than he did this evening.
“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous,” Lyles explained. “I’d say I was extremely curious as to what was going to happen…
“I’m curious as to what I’m going to do, how I’m going to pull this off. Because I came in third-fastest from the semis and I’m like, ‘This is going to be serious, this is not going to be easy.”
Of course, it wasn't easy but Lyles can now confidently call himself the fastest man on the planet. And it is the person he is, as much as the athlete he is, that allowed him to take that title by the smallest of possible margins.
Paris 2024 athletics: Men's 100m podium
Gold: Noah Lyles (USA)
Silver: Kishane Thompson (Jamaica)
Bronze: Fred Kerley (USA)