The race was truly a spectacle of pure speed, with all eight finalists separated by just 0.12 seconds at the finish line.
Facebook X LinkedIn Share via Email Print Noah Lyles claimed his historic first Olympic gold medal on Sunday (4 August), winning a thrillingM Men 100m final at the Stade de FranceThe US sprinter ended a 20-year wait for an American champion in the blue-riband event, edging out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by the narrowest of margins.In a race that will be talked about for years to come, Lyles clocked a personal best (PB) of 9.784 seconds to pip Thompson (9.789 seconds) to gold.
The race also produced national records (NR) for South Africa’s Akani Simbine (9.82 seconds) and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (9.86 seconds), who finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
Fred Kerley of the US took bronze with a season’s best (SB) of 9.81 seconds, while Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic men’s 100m champion, could only manage fifth in 9.85 seconds.
With this victory, Lyles takes a significant step towards a potential quadruple gold haul at the Paris Games, as he now turns his attention to the 200m and relay events.