Noah Lyles has won the gold medal in the 100m final at the Paris Olympics, setting a new personal best time.
After a slow start, Lyles made his way back, catching up to then-leader Kishane Thompson, making it neck and neck for the final 10 metres.
Lyles only came out on top at the finish line, by a margin of just 0.005 seconds.
The American finished with a final time of 9.784, while Thompson came in with a time of 9.789, with the final result representing a personal best time for Olympic champion Lyles.
Noah Lyles won it by a hair. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Fellow American sprinter Fred Kerley took home the bronze medal with a time of 9.81, meaning the US have added another two medals to their growing overall tally.
Before the final started, the athletes were brought out to raucous applause, with Lyles being the most out-going, skipping across the track in bizarre yet unique fashion.
After this, the sprinters were kept behind the blocks for a prolonged period of time that is still unclear, as the pressure and tension built up for the athletes.
The race was too close to call throughout, and Lyle’s recovery from a slow start to win will surely go down as one of the most remarkable stories from this year’s athletics portion of the Olympics.
He adds to his sole bronze medal, which he got in the 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a competition which the athlete deemed not good enough.
The 27-year-old has been telling people to keep an eye on his performances at this summer’s Olympics, going into it as the best in the world and eager to prove doubters wrong.
Noah Lyles was ecstatic with the result. (LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)
As for the rest of the final, in fourth was South African runner Akani Simbine, who managed to set a national record of 9.82, narrowly missing out on a podium finish.
Letsile Tebogo came sixth overall, but also set a new national record for Botswana with a time of 9.86.
Lamont Jacobs came fifth with a season best time of 9.85, while American Kenneth Bednarek finished in seventh with a 9.88 and Oblique Seville came last with a time of 9.91 in a blistering 100m final.
Jamaican sprinter Thompson, the favourite going in, started the final in lane four with a time of 9.80 seconds, the quickest time in the semi-finals, followed by countryman Oblique Seville in lane six, who hit 9.81.
American runner and world no.1 Lyles qualified in lane seven with the third fastest time in the semis, 9.83, and with the second fastest personal best out of the final runners, which was 9.81.
