Noah Lyles Wins 100 meters in Photo Finish at Paris Olympics

One of the premier events in the summer Olympics is the Men’s 100 meters in Track and Field. Besides Olympic medals, the unofficial title of “World’s Fastest Man” is at stake. Going into the Paris 2024 games, the U.S. had won 16 Gold Medals in the 100 since the advent of the Modern Olympics in 1896. However, it had been 20 years since an American had captured the gold, with Justin Gatlin being the last one back in 2004 at Athens. The U.S. also got the bronze that year, and had won either a silver or bronze in the four Olympics since Athens, but hadn’t been back on top (due in no small part to Jamaica’s Usain Bolt winning three golds during that time). The U.S. also had 15 Silver and nine Bronze going into the 2024 games, for those keeping score at home.

This year, three U.S. sprinters reached the finals in the 100. They were: Fred Kerley, the Silver Medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, Kenny Bednarek, who was a Silver Medalist in the 200 meters in Tokyo, and Noah Lyles, bronze medalist in the 200 in Tokyo and the current World Champion in the 100.

The field included defending Gold Medalist Lamont Jacobs of Italy. The race was so close that it was a photo finish. In the end, Lyles was the winner over Kishane Thompson of Jamaica. The official time for both was 9.79 seconds, but carrying it out one more decimal place, it was 9.784 for Lyles and 9.789 for Silver Medalist Thompson. Fred Kerly won the bronze with a time of 9.81.

Here’s a link to the race

We will see Lyles again in the 200 meters (considered his best event) as well as the 4 X 100 relay. Kerley will also run in those two events, and Bednarek will compete in the 200.