Noah Lyles is the World’s Fastest Man.
And it took him 9.79 seconds — and a photo-finish lean at the wire — to do it.
And put America back atop the global sprinting stage for the first time in decades.
NOAH LYLES’ OLYMPIC DREAM COMES TRUE!
100M GOLD MEDALIST. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/qR6bkXLHhE
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Noah Lyles edges out the field to win the 100-meter gold medal at the Olympics on Aug. 4, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
Lyles stormed back from behind, keeping his momentum and surging from fourth to first at the tape Sunday night at Stade de France.
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He became the first American man to win Olympic 100 gold since Justin Gatlin 20 years ago, and he ran into the stands to hug his mother Keisha Caine Bishop, who ran for Seton Hall.
Americans Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley all reached the final.
And Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson came in with the top time in the world this year at 9.77, and backed that up with the best time in qualifying with a 9.80. And the powerful Jamaican got his usual great start.
Noah Lyles celebrates his win in the 100-meter at the Olympics on Aug. 4, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
But Thompson had never been in a global final, Olympics or World Championships.
And Lyles had the better finish, leaning and winning by just five 1000ths of a second. Kerley, a silver medalist in Tokyo, took bronze.
Lyles will run the 200, his strongest event, and the 4×100.
