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 men’s Olympic 100m final by the finest of margins 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 Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. “After the race, I’ll be honest, I came over and told him: ‘I think you got that one big dog’,” admitted Lyles.
However, as the world’s fastest men pawed at the track and glared anxiously at the huge Stade de France screen for the verdict, it went the American’s way – he and Thompson both being clocked at 9.79 (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.
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“He [Thompson] was out there in lane four and I was in lane seven and I couldn’t really see what was going on over there so I just had to keep running like I was going to win it and something said I needed to lean.”
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 didn’t get “too comfortable”. He has been carrying that medal in his bag through the rounds in Paris and, at the post-race press conference, he even produced it in front of the media before saying: “I was fuelled as soon as I saw this in my hands.”
Lyles has also 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. His pursuit of succession the 200m, his stronger event, begins on Monday morning.
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With the world watching on, the race was eventful even before the athletes arrived, given that a protestor attempted to get on to the track before being swiftly stopped.
A spectacular light show followed and accompanied the athletes into the arena but there was then a lengthy delay that ramped up the levels of anticipation and nervousness, for the crowd but particularly for the men who were about take part in one of the biggest sporting moment of their lives.
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 have been forgiven for thinking he’d 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, also with a large ice pack strapped to his hamstring not 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.
There was no British interest in the final after both Louie Hinchliffe and world bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes failed to get past the semi-finals. Racing against Lyles for the second time in succession, the Yorkshireman clocked 9.97 for third place but it wasn’t enough to take a fastest loser’s sport.
Hughes, who has struggled with hamstring issues this year, ran 10.01 in his semi-final – a time that was 14th-fastest overall.
Matt Hudson-Smith (Getty)
Meanwhile, The biggest news from the qualifying heats of the men’s 400m was the fact that defending champion Steven Gardiner, who has struggled with injury over the past two seasons, had withdrawn from the competition.
The rest of the main challengers spent their races making quick times look extremely easy.
Michael Norman was fastest overall with 44.10, closely followed by his fellow American Quincy Hall (44.28) and Commonwealth champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago (44.31).
British world leader Matt Hudson-Smith was in very relaxed form, too, as he won the opening race of the night in 44.78.
“It was an easy run, I was just going for the win, andto try and make it as easy as possible and get ready for the semi-finals. Preparation has been really good, so now I just go for the win.”
He was joined in the semis by European silver medallist Charlie Dobson, who clocked 44.96m and managed to avoid tangling with Zaklon Ekhal Ekwam when the Kenyan crashed to the floor in the lane outside with what appeared to be a major hamstring issue.
“It was comfy the whole way round,” said Dobson. “I really enjoyed that run.
“I didn’t notice him too much I was focussing on my own lane and my own race really, and I was watching the board, but then I saw him fall over and I was like oh ****! Excuse my French!”
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