World Athletics president applauds new 100m Olympic champions work off the track and his ability to find a way to win on it

It was the morning after the night before and, like most of the watching world, Seb Coe was still digesting a mens Olympic 100m final that, as an advert for the sport, the World Athletics president described as: Just about as close to perfect as youll get.

After the blanket finish, the high drama of the wait to see the verdict of the photo finish technology, the rapid times, it was Noah Lyles who came out on top once again and cemented his place at the vanguard of the sport.

The American has coveted Olympic gold since it eluded him in Tokyo three years ago and his celebrations reflected the realisation of a dream, albeit he still has plans to conquer the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay here in Paris.

He has made it his mission to become a gatherer of titles, comfortably accomplishing that aim when it comes to the World Championships. The Olympics is a different stage, however, and this win will send his star shooting further and higher.

Material for the second series of the Netflix show Sprint is being filmed in Paris and the producers must already be drowning in superb footage to work with. On the womens side, there has already been the emergence of a new face in Julien Alfred, while Lyles is in the business of show as much he is in the business of running faster than everyone else on the planet.

In the 100m final post-race press conference, he spoke about a desire to work with sponsors adidas to create his own, profile-raising trainer. The idea certainly worked for Michael Jordan and Nike and, though Lyles might not be reaching that level of fame just yet, Coe can see similarities starting to emerge with the greatest sprinter of recent times.

Hes hugely important [to the sport], said Coe of the man who became the USAs first male Olympic 100m gold medallist since Justin Gatlin in 2004 . If Im wearing a promoters hat, then him winning last night was important, because hes now creating a narrative that is heading us back into Usain Bolt territory.

Its a recognisable face. Its a face that has now got young people talking about [athletics]. Friends of mine whove got young kids, theyre now talking about Noah Lyles in the same breath as some of the highest profile sportsmen and women in the world.

Coe chuckled at the mention of the shoe idea, but also admits it raises an important and instructive point about Lyles mentality.

I can understand that ambition, he said. Thats between him and his shoe company but what he is recognising and reflecting on is that he is beginning to transcend the sport, which is really what we want them all [the athletes] to do.

Of course, little momentum can be built off the track if the sporting achievement is not there on it in the first place. Coe, who won 1500m gold at the Moscow and LA Games, knows a thing or two about what it takes to win the sports greatest prizes and in Lyles on Sunday night he witnessed a crucial trait.

What Noah demonstrated last night is fundamentally the difference between one-off races in Diamond Leagues, or wherever it happens to be and championship races, he said, with Lyles edging out Jamaican Kishane Thompson by just five thousandths of a second. Like all great individuals and great teams in sport, when it really matters they tend to find a way of winning, and thats what he did. He was never ahead in that race until the last frame of that photo finish. But he found a way.

Coe added: He didnt look outstanding in the first round and his semi-final was okay, but it was his  kingdom last night. I saw a completely different Noah on the line in the final. I thought he looked slightly tentative in the first round, but he grew in stature.

To use a cricketing analogy, the jump between one-day and championship [competition in athletics] is like going from county cricket to Test cricket against the best Indian team. In football its like the championship to Premier League into World Cup.

What he mastered last night, which you have to say he probably mastered better than anybody else was, what was in his head for that hour and 40 something minutes between the semi and the final. Thats one is often won and lost in the call room.

The huge Stade de France public were served up the finest of main courses in the blue riband event of the athletics schedule. Given how good Lyles is at promoting the sport to the masses, Coe would love to see more athletes following a similar example.

Your performance is your passport but promotion is everything, he said. Its not enough to be just another Olympic champion or another world champion he wants to fill a stadium, he also wants to fill a press conference. And actually what he has to say is not just for the moment, what he has to say is actually profoundly important for the sport. There are things he has said that got us all thinking slightly differently.