There were fireworks in the final of the men’s 100m as Noah Lyles stamped his name in the record books, becoming the first reigning World Champion to win the men’s 100m Olympic title since Usain Bolt in 2016.
Lyles entered the competition as one of the heavy favourites along with Jamaican rookie, Kishane Thompson. Lyles started his 100m campaign in reserved fashion, placing second in his heat behind NCAA Champion, Louie Hinchliffe with a time of 10.04s.
In the semifinals, the American was seeded in the same heat as Oblique Seville who defeated him a few months ago at the Jamaican Grand Prix. Seville won the race with a Personal Best (PB) of 9.81s while Lyles clocked a 9.83s.
On the other hand, Thompson ran the fastest time overall in his heat with a time of 9.80s, with Fred Kerley staying close at 9.84s. Akani Simbine claimed his heat over Letsile Tebogo in 9.87s to 9.91s.
The moment the world was anticipating finally came as the finalists took centre stage. The two favourites, Thompson and Lyles, were in lanes 4 and 7 respectively. From the go, Thompson’s bullet start was so evident that he was already in the lead at the 30-meter mark while Lyles left the blocks late and was in 8th place.
Lyles didn’t get into his rhythm until he reached the 60-meter mark where he accelerated from 7th to 3rd place. In the last few meters, he caught up with Thompson, who held on to the lead in most part of the race to dip across the finish line. They stopped the clock with an identical time of 9.79s. Lyles was given the nod, edging Thompson by five-thousandths of a second.
The winning time doubled as a PB for the newly crowned Olympic champion.
Kerley added another medal to his Olympic collection by snatching the Bronze medal in 9.81s. Simbine repeated his position from the Tokyo Games, finishing 4th in 9.82s.
Lyles became the first American male sprinter in two decades to win the men’s 100m Olympic title since Justin Gatlin in Athens 2004.
