Paris Olympics 2024: Noah Lyles Beats Kishane Thomas In Photo Finish To Become First American 100m Winner In 20 Years I WATCH Video
Paris: American Noah Lyles created history at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday (August 4) night as athletics events got well and truly underway at the Stade de France. In a photo finish for the 100m gold medal, Lyles pipped Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thomas to clinch the title.
Lyles became the first American in 20 years to win 100m gold medal. The last American to win this crown was Justin Gatlin in the 2004 Athens Olympics and Maurice Greene in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Italy’s Marcell Jacobs was the previous 100m champion at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in an event which was dominated by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt from 2008 Beijing Olympics to 2016 Rio Olympics.
Fred Kerley won the bronze as the United States put two sprinters on the podium. Lyles ran a career best 9.784 seconds to earn the gold and will seek a sweep later this week in the 200 meters, much like Bolt achieved in the past. Thompson’s silver is his first Olympic medal and Kerley took bronze in 9.81 seconds.
WATCH Noah Lyles wins 100m gold medal at Paris Olympics 2024 HERE…
Huge accomplishment for Noah Lyles winning Gold for team USA in the 100m men’s final! Noah is a 200m runner traditionally and he just won in the 100m.
In the Netflix docuseries Sprint, Noah joked with his mom and said “the 200 is my wife and the 100 is my mistress.”
Can’t… pic.twitter.com/OXk3zyT5YE
— Jordan Karr (@JordanLkarr) August 4, 2024
It was the closest 100-meter since at least Moscow in 1980 — or maybe even ever. Back then, Britain’s Allan Wells narrowly beat Silvio Leonard in an era when timing didn’t go down into the thousandths of a second.
Lyles will be a favorite later this week in the 200 meters — his better race — and will try to join Usain Bolt as the latest runner to win both Olympic sprints. Defending champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy made the final but did not win a medal.
Meanwhile, Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson pulled out of the women’s 200 meters and will not race for an individual medal in Paris. She had already pulled out of the 100 meters to focus on the 200.
The 27-year-old Lyles is the first American to win the event since Justin Gatlin at the 2004 Athens Games. His lean at the finish line was enough to give him the gold by just .005 seconds over Kishane Thompson of Jamaica.