Noah Lyles has revealed that he thought Kishane Thompson had won their Olympic 100m final.
The United States sprinter is the new Olympic champion following a dramatic end to the men’s 100m final in Paris on Sunday evening.
A photo finish was required to split Lyles and Thompson, who was the favourite heading into the race after his impressive time of 9.80 seconds earlier in the semi final.
But Lyles finished 0.005 seconds ahead of Thompson and the 27-year-old has now won the first Olympic gold medal of his career.
‘It was a very close race,’ Lyles told Jamaican broadcaster SportsMax TV after his victory.
‘I’m glad I had Oblique Seville next to me because I was like, ‘yo, I need someone to put that pressure on me early’. I know that in a lot of races he’s been one or two lanes away from me and he’s been able to be get out just in that acceleration phase and I’ve just been missing it. I was like, ‘nah, now that you’re right next to me I’ll make sure I cover that’.
‘And then after I passed him I saw Kishane out there I was like just do what I do, hit my top-end speed, let it work.
‘To be honest, I didn’t know if I had it. I leaned but I didn’t know I had it.
‘Me and Kishane were at the end waiting for our names to come up and I came back and I said, ‘I’ll be honest, man, I think you got that one’.
‘But my name came up and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, I’m amazing’.
‘I’ve waited a long time, I’ve seen Jamaican’s dominate the 100m and 200m for so long and I remember growing up saying, ‘when it’s my turn I’m going to make sure that the US is on top’. And here it is, here’s my time, my journey, my moment, it’s such a beautiful thing to see.’
In a separate interview with the BBC, Lyles admitted he was frustrated with his performance in the semi final earlier on Sunday evening after he finished second behind Jamaica’s Oblique Seville.
‘A guy in biomechanics comes down and before I came out here, he said it was going to be this much, that’s how close it is going to be and gosh was he right,’ Lyles said.
‘I had to take every round as it was and I was a little upset after the first round so I came with the aggression and after I ran that 83 and I was done with the aggression.
‘My sports therapist told me you need to let go, you’re holding on. Let go and release it.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
MORE : Imane Khelif’s next opponent speaks out ahead of Olympic boxing semi-final
MORE : Why some runners wear arm sleeves at the Paris 2024 Olympics
MORE : Boy, 5, dies after wind gust blows bouncy castle ’15 to 20 feet’ in air
Share your story or advertise with us: Whatsapp: +2347068606071 Email: info@newspotng.com
