PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 04: Noah Lyles of Team United States celebrates winning the gold medal after … [+]
The man of the hour is newly crowned Olympic champion Noah Lyles. During the 100-meter dash final, the two-time Olympian ran a personal best of 9.79 seconds to clinch his first Olympic title.
Lyles is the American record holder in the 200-meter dash and has earned six world championship titles. He made his Olympic debut in Tokyo, where he earned bronze in the 200-meter dash. Since then, he has not lost a major championship in the event.
Although the 100-meter dash is not Lyle’s strongest event, he managed to earn a spot in what can be called the toughest 100-meter dash final in history. At every global championship but the 2015 world championships, 10 seconds flat would always, at the very least, make the final. During the 2015 world championships, the slowest qualifying time was 9.99 seconds.
This year, five athletes ran 10 seconds flat or faster but still did not make the final. The last person to make it into this year’s Olympic final was 200-meter dash Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek at 9.93 seconds.
Joining Bednarek and Lyles was Tokyo silver medalist Fred Kerley, putting all three Americans in the final. 2012 was the last Olympics where all three USA men made the 100-meter dash final.
Noah Lyle’s Road To Olympic Gold
PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 04: Noah Lyles of Team United States celebrates winning the gold medal in the … [+]
Although Lyles was able to pull off earning an Olympic title, his journey in this event was not easy.
Lyles ran at a meet in Jamaica where he lost to Oblique Seville, one of Jamaica’s top sprinters. In that race, Seville looked smooth, while Lyles looked like he had expended more energy to run as well as he did.
The world champion only came into the Olympics ranked third, with Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala ranked first and second. Thompson’s world-leading time of 9.77 seconds and Omanyala’s time of 9.79 seconds are faster than Lyles’ previous lifetime best.
In round one of the Paris 100-meter dash, NCAA champion and Great Britain athlete Louie Hinchcliffe beat Lyles. In the semi-finals today, Seville handed Lyles another second-place finish. Fans and spectators were concerned for Lyle’s odds of securing gold and even making the podium after not winning either qualifying round.
Considering the top four fastest men going into the final ran 9.80 seconds, 9.81 seconds, 9.83 seconds, and 9.84 seconds, it was clear that if Lyles wanted gold, he would need to run the best race of his life.
The world champion did not have a stellar start to his race in the final, but he is mostly known for his vicious top-end speed, where he can close significant gaps on his competition in the last 30 meters of his race.
This graphic shows how Lyles was in eighth place for the first 40 meters of the race. He moved from seventh to third place in just 10 meters. Even at 90 meters, he was only in second. It took until the last moment for Lyles to pull off his first Olympic gold medal. Readers can click here to see the analysis of the other competitors.
This is a race analysis from the official Olympics website that shows the placement of each athlete … [+]
The most interesting part of the anticipation for the results is that neither Lyles nor Thompson thought they won after racing. During the press conference, Lyles and Thompson recounted the moment they crossed the finish line.
“After that race, I came up. We were waiting for the names to pop up,” said Lyles. “I’m going to be honest. When I came over, I was like, ‘I think you got that big dawg’.”
Thompson went on to express how, from his perspective, he thought Lyles had beaten him because he couldn’t see Lyles based on the lanes they were in.
“It was really a close race because I couldn’t really see Noah,” said Thompson. “When we both crossed the line… he came to me and said, ‘Hey man, I think you got it,’ but I was like, ‘I’m not even sure’ because it was that close.”
Their names appeared on the results list, with Lyles and Thompson having the same time of 9.79 seconds. However, Lyles’ name appeared first because he won by .005 of a second.
PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 04: (EDITORS NOTE: Image is a digital composite.) General view as Noah Lyles … [+]
This is Thompson’s first Olympic games, and he has already earned a silver medal at just 23-years old. Kerley did not have the most typical year, but he managed to pull together a season’s best and earn the USA another spot on the podium.
The reigning Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs placed fifth overall while running a season’s best. Respect should also be given to Akani Simbine, who placed fourth, and Letsile Tebogo, who placed sixth, as they ran national records for their respective home countries.
Although Bednarek did not place as high as he hoped, he has a chance to redeem himself during the 200-meter dash. Seville has the opportunity to appear on Jamaica’s 4×100-meter relay.
Lyles has talked extensively about wanting to earn four Olympic gold medals from the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, the 4×100-meter relay, and the 4×400-meter relay. So far, he has one down and three more to go.
If Noah Lyles can win the 200-meter dash, he will be the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to win both sprint medals at the Olympics.
The next event Lyles will contest is the 200-meter dash, which begins on August 5th at 1:55 p.m. EST. He will compete in the 4×100-meter relay on August 9th and must wait to see if he is chosen for the 4×400-meter relay on August 10th.