Noah Lyles won the Olympic 100 meters by
Noah Lyles wins Olympic 100 by five-thousandths of a second, among closest finishes in Games historyBy EDDIE PELLSAP National WriterThe Associated PressSAINT-DENIS, France
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Noah Lyles won the Olympic 100 meters by .005 seconds Sunday, waiting some 30 seconds after the finish of an excruciatingly close sprint to find out he’d beaten Kishane Thompson of Jamaica.
The word “Photo” popped up on the scoreboard after Lyles and Thompson dashed to the line. Lyles paced the track with his hands draped over his head. Finally, the numbers came up. Lyles won in 9.784 seconds to edge out the Jamaican by five-thousandths of a tick of the clock.
America’s Fred Kerley came in third at 9.81 and defending champion Marcell Jacobs finished fifth.
This 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 is the first American to win the celebrated race since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
And 9.784 also marks a personal best for Lyles, who has been promising to add his own brand of excitement to track and certainly delivered this time.
He 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.
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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Noah Lyles finished behind Jamaica’s Oblique Seville in the semifinal of the Olympic 100 meters Sunday but still advanced for a rematch in the gold-medal race later in the evening.
Seville is now 2-0 this season against Lyles after finishing in 9.81 seconds, good for a .02-second margin over the American champion.
Seville got off to a stronger start than Lyles, and the American made up ground over the last 40 meters but couldn’t completely close the gap. Lyles also lost his opening-round heat — to Britain’s Louie Hinchliffe on Saturday. Hinchliffe finished third in the semifinal and did not advance.
Joining Lyles in the eight-man final will be Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, who won his semifinal in 9.80 seconds, the fastest time in the three semifinal. Thompson also has the world’s best time this year at 9.77; he and Seville are trying to put Jamaica back on top of the Olympic podium for the first time since Usain Bolt retired after the 2016 Games.
Defending champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy finished third in the second semifinal and advanced because his 9.92 was the best among sprinters who didn’t automatically qualify by finishing in the top two in their heats.
Also in the final will be Americans Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and South Africa’s Akani Simbine.
Other gold medals on the line Sunday night at the Stade de France are in men’s hammer throw and women’s high jump, where Yaroslava Mahuchikh tries to bring Olympic gold to her war-torn home country of Ukraine.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
