World’s fastest man is a ‘wolf’

USA’s Noah Lyles wins the 100m dash in Paris on Sunday. Pics/AFP

Noah Lyles snatched a photo-finish victory in the closest 100m final in modern Olympic history on Sunday to end USA's 20-year wait to recapture the world's most prestigious sprinting crown.

In a nerve-shredding final at the Stade de France, Lyles, the charismatic 27-year-old from Florida, took gold by a fraction from Jamaica's Kishane Thompson. Lyles's winning margin boiled down to just five thousandths of a second, with the American clocked at 9.784sec to Thompson's 9.789sec, though both men's times will be listed as 9.79sec. It was the narrowest margin of victory since electronic timing has been used at the Olympics. Lyles' compatriot Fred Kerley took bronze in 9.81sec.

100m Olympic champ Noah Lyles

The race was so close that the electronic scoreboard in the arena simply read "photo" beside seven of the eight finalists. After an agonising wait of several seconds, Lyles' victory was confirmed, sparking wild celebrations from the reigning 100m and 200m world champion who is regarded as one of the global superstars as athletics. "It's the one I wanted," an elated Lyles told Eurosport moments after his win. "It's the hard battle, it's the amazing opponents. Everybody's healthy, everybody came prepared for the fight and I wanted to prove that I'm the man amongst all of them. I'm the wolf amongst wolves," he added.

Lyles admitted though that he doubted whether he'd win gold. "I went to Kishane and said, ‘I'm gonna be honest, bro, I think you had that one.' And I was fully prepared to see his name pop up. But to see my name pop up, I'm like goodness gracious. I'm incredible," said Lyles.

The win completes a rollercoaster three years for Lyles, who had left the pandemic-hit Tokyo Olympics in tears after a disappointing campaign, citing his mental health struggles and battle with depression.

9.784s
1st: Noah Lyles

9.789s
2nd: Kishane Thompson

9.81s
3rd: Fred Kerley

20
No. of years it has taken an American, after Justin Gatlin, to win an Olympic 100m gold

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