Noah Lyles wins 1st Olympic gold in 100m for Team USA : NPR

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SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles has been claiming to be “the quickest man alive” since changing into the reigning world champion within the 100-meter race final yr.

After Sunday evening’s race, the American can now declare that title with out contest.

Lyles ran 9.79 seconds, a private finest, within the Sunday evening competitors at Stade de France, to say his first Olympic gold.

Forward of begin time, Lyles, recognized for his dramatics and showmanship, got here onto the observe with arms raised to whip up the group, ending his pre-race present by darting up and down a couple of quarter of the 100-meter distance he was about to run.

As soon as the shot fired, the American received a classically sluggish begin however accelerated sufficient to beat Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, who — earlier than tonight — was the quickest man this yr. He additionally posted 9.79, prompting a nail-biting few moments as everybody within the stadium waited for the picture end outcomes to develop.

Lyles crosses the end line forward of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson within the males’s 100m remaining on Sunday evening at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

Andrej Isakovic/AFP by way of Getty Photos

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Andrej Isakovic/AFP by way of Getty Photos

Computer systems present Lyles leaned ahead to cross the road five-thousandths of a second sooner than Thompson.

Earlier than the ultimate outcomes posted, Lyles advised reporters he thought it was Thompson who completed first, not him.

“I used to be like, oh man I’m actually gonna should swallow my delight, which I don’t have an issue doing. Respect deserves respect, and all people within the area to be trustworthy got here out realizing that they might win this race.”

Fred Kerley of the U.S. got here in third place .02 seconds later to win bronze.

Lyles’ victory within the 100m is the primary U.S. gold within the Olympic occasion since Justin Gatlin received in 2004.

As for Thompson, he’ll be the primary Jamaican to make it to the rostrum since Usain Bolt’s Olympic reign ended with the Rio de Janeiro Video games in 2016.

“That is the closest medal,” Thompson mentioned after the race. “I couldn’t see him, however I assumed he was seeing me. He mentioned, ‘Hey Kishane I assumed you bought it,’ and I mentioned, ‘I’m not certain.’ “

Within the semifinal, fellow Jamaican Indirect Seville ran a private finest 9.81, ending forward of Lyles by .02 after the American had one other tough begin.

Lyles’ celeb rose after final month’s launch of the Netflix docuseries Dash, which follows a number of of the quickest runners presently on the Paris Video games of their quest for Olympic gold.

Lyles is the reigning world champion within the 100m and the 200m. It’s additionally why the showman already favored to name himself the “quickest man alive.” He additionally received the bronze within the 200-meter race on the Tokyo Olympics three years in the past.

In the end, Lyles is chasing Bolt’s world report in each. Bolt’s 100-meter report is 9.58 seconds.

Lyles will not be recognized for his begin out of the blocks. In reality, an official timing evaluation of the ultimate confirmed that for the primary 40 meters of Sunday’s gold-medal race, he was in final place.

It is why the 200-meter is his higher occasion. He’ll have an opportunity to show that on Thursday evening.

If he does win, Lyles could be the primary male sprinter to realize the Olympic dash double since Bolt did it at Rio in 2016.

At a post-race press convention, Lyles was requested to look in to the longer term.

He mentioned sprinting greats needs to be seen on the identical degree as basketball superstars — and have their very own large sponsorships. He says that he even desires to have his personal sneaker line.