Noah Lyles won the Olympic men’s 100m final by the barest of margins to claim the gold medal in a sensational race at the Stade de France.
Despite appearing out of the contest with 50 metres remaining, US superstar Lyles clawed his way back to beat Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and fellow countryman Fred Kerley, who got their hands on silver and bronze respectively.
There were nervous scenes before the spectacle as the competitors were forced to wait several minutes for the starting pistol – and the athletes faced another anxious wait to learn the winner at the conclusion of the race.
But Lyles let out an almighty roar when confirmation of his victory arrived after a dramatic photo finish, with the American posting a personal best time of 9.79 in the French capital.
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Olympic debutant Thompson had to settle for a second-placed finish, with Lyles beating him by five thousandths of a second. For the first time in history, all eight men broke the 10-second barrier in a wind-legal race.
Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, the shock Olympic champion three years ago in Tokyo, finished outside the medals, while Jamaican’s Oblique Seville came last with a time of 9.91.
Team GB duo Louie Hinchliffe and Zharnel Hughes missed out on tonight’s showpiece after failing to make it through their respective semi-finals earlier in the evening.
‘Lyles didn’t even have a medal 10 metres out!’ Steve Cram said on BBC’s commentary of the race.
‘He didn’t have a hope of winning! But he came fast, he came strong, he came hard and in the end, by the smallest of margins, he has taken the Olympic title.
‘Nobody was giving him much of a chance. He was beaten in the heats, beaten in the semi-final but you win the one that counts the most.’
‘I have a biomechanist who comes down and before I came out here, he said it’s going to be this much [gestures tiny margin]: “That’s how much you’re going to win by”,’ Lyles told BBC Sport shortly after his sensational win.
‘Gosh, was he right!’
Lyles said he had to take each round as it came after underwhelming showings in the heats and in the semi-finals.
‘I had to take each round as it was. I was a little upset after the first round so I came with the aggression and then after I ran that 9.83, I was like, “Alright, the aggression, we’re done with that”,’ he added.
‘My sports therapist said, “You have to let go, you’re holding on… let you and release it!”.
‘There’s plenty more to come. I hope you guys liked it because I’ve got a lot more coming.’
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