World champion adds Olympic 100m title to his collection after nailbiting final in Paris

Timing is everything and Noah Lyles got his just right to win the mens Olympic 100m final in Paris on Sunday night (August 4).

At first glance, it looked like the multiple world champion had been beaten to the punch by the emerging talent that is Jamaicas Kishane Thompson. Given there appeared so little to choose beween the finalists, there were even question marks raised as to whether or not Lyles had been run out of the medals completely.

However, as the worlds fastest men pawed at the track and glared anxiously at the huge Stade de France screen for the verdict, it went the Americans way he and Thompson both being clocked at 9.79 7(1.0), but the margin of victory coming down to a mere five thousandths of a second. The 2022 world champion, Fred Kerley, took bronze in 9.81.

As the replays were scrutinised, Lyles had in actual fact finished like a train and it was his dip for the line that ultimately saw him reach the promised land he has been aiming for ever since falling short of his own expectations by winning 200m bronze in Tokyo three years ago.

He has pinpointed that race as having fuelled his rise to the top of global sprinting, for making sure that he didnt get too comfortable. He has been talking for months about coming away from Paris with multiple gold medals and now he has the first piece in that jigsaw thanks to what was a personal best.

It was the defending champion, Marcell Jacobs, who had a superb start to burst into an early lead before Thompson the world leader this year with 9.77 took over with the rest of the field in hot pursuit. He could be forgiven for thinking hed done enough but, as the final analysis emerged, Lyles ripped off his bib and showed his name to the crowd. As if they needed reminding of who they were watching.

It was a brilliant final, with Akani Simbine breaking the South African record with 9.82 in fourth and Jacobs finishing fifth in 9.85 and also with a large ice pack strapped to his hamstring no long after he had crossed the line.

Letsile Tebogo clocked a Botswanan record with 9.86 and the third American in the final Kenny Bednarek 9.88 for eighth. That young Jamaican Oblique Seville clocked 9.91 but still finished last told its own story.