- Lyles narrowly wins chaotic 100m Olympic final
- Thompson’s early lead overtaken by Lyles’ strong finish
- Lyles aims for global fame with Olympic gold
This was an Olympic 100m final that seemed like a brawl: chaotic, thrilling, spectacular, and raw. The world’s eight finest male sprinters crossed the finish line in an immense heap, their form deteriorating as their desperation rose. The giant stadium displays showed little indication of the outcome. Everyone’s name only had the word “photo-finish” in it.
In the next desperate seconds, Noah Lyles, track and field’s finest showman, approached Kishane Thompson, a rising Jamaican star. “I think you’ve got the Olympics, big dog.” For once, Lyles was mistaken. But only just.
It boiled down to five-thousandths of a second: the width of a body or a blink of an eye. That was the difference between gold and silver, as well as the gap between Lyles and Thompson after they crossed the finish line in 9.79 seconds.
When Lyles realised he had won, he began sprinting around the track again, stars and stripes in hand, savouring the delirium. “He was in lane 4, I was in lane 7, so I couldn’t really see what was happening,” he explained later. “I kept running like I was going to win it. Something told me, ‘I need to lean.’ It’s that type of race. “It was crazy.”
However, it needed to be fully clear how he had accomplished this. Thompson is noted for his lightning-fast starts and incredible top-end speed. In reality, he rushes like an American football running back, aiming to break through everything in his path. For approximately 95 metres, it appeared that the Olympic gold medal was within his reach.
Lyles, meanwhile, was in last place after 30 metres, with his start needing more explosiveness and pop than his competitors. However, in the final few metres, he finished like an RER train, passing the 23-year-old Jamaican on the dip.
The official results demonstrated how close it was. Lyles ran 9.784, and Thompson scored 9.789. Another American, Fred Kerley, earned bronze in 9.81, and South African Akani Simbine finished fourth. However, every man on the pitch quickly broke 10 seconds. It’s no surprise that Michael Johnson described it as the greatest 100-meter final ever.
There were parallels here to the 1980 Olympic 100m final in Moscow, where Alan Wells defeated Cuban Silvio Leonard by 76mm. But this was even closer.
If there was an explanation for Lyles’ triumph, it could be because he was able to maintain his composure during the longest preliminaries to a significant race in Olympic history.
It began with the sprinters being presented to the 75,000-strong crowd at the Stade de France, with the lights darkening before a stunning performance to Kavinsky’s soundtrack.
Thompson yelled as they were introduced one by one, and Kerley placed his fingers to his mouth. Lyles, meantime, dashed halfway down the track, shouting with joy.
However, instead of entering the blocks, the competitors had to wait several minutes for the stadium lights to return to full brightness.
The long wait helped Lyles the most. He had been defeated in the semi-finals, but he suddenly appeared at ease when several of his opponents seemed to be frightened and tight.
Then came the race, the whirl of bodies, and the unknown. Thompson has remorse about what may have been.
As the photo finish was reviewed, he yelled, “Come on!” at the large screen while waiting for the official results. But this was not to be. Thompson’s foot crossed the line first, but the American’s torso was slightly in front. “I wasn’t patient enough with myself to let my speed bring me to the line, in the position that I know I could have gone to,” said the sprinter.
However, Thompson disagreed when questioned if the gold medal should be shared, given how close the two men were at the finish line.
“I think the sport is too competitive, no offence to any other sport,” stated the commentator. It’s too competitive for us to share a gold medal.
Both Louie Hinchliffe and Zharnel Hughes failed to advance beyond the semi-finals. Hence, there were no Britons in the final. The 21-year-old Hinchliffe has had a remarkable season, breaking the 100m barrier and winning the prestigious NCAA championship—however, a third-place finish with a time of 9.97 needed to be increased.
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Hughes, meanwhile, blamed his semi-final sixth-place result of 10.01 on the consequences of a hamstring injury he sustained in early June.
But this night was all about Lyles and the question of what he would do next. When he won the world 200m title in 2022, he set his sights on a bold new goal: becoming a global celebrity and influencer. It sounded like a bizarre dream. This is the new reality.
Who would dare to bet against a man who won three gold medals at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and is expected to repeat the same in Paris in the coming days? Or ascend to the pinnacle of athletic achievement?
Once again, Netflix cameras and boom mics will be present, making him the main character in the second season of the docuseries Sprint.
“I am going around as the Olympic champion,” he told the crowd. “I have the title of world’s fastest man. “This has been years in the making.”
Then he smiled, indicating that this is precisely how he prefers it.
