Entertainment
Noah Lyles wins Olympic gold in the 100m by five thousandths of a second
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Noah Lyles won the 100-meter dash at the Olympics on Sunday by 0.005 seconds, waiting about 30 seconds after the end of an incredibly close sprint to learn he had beaten Jamaican Kishane Thompson.
The word “Photo” appeared on the scoreboard as Lyles and Thompson ran to the line. Lyles paced the track together with his arms wrapped above his head. Finally, the numbers appeared. Lyles won with a time of 9.784 seconds, five thousandths of a second on the clock ahead of the Jamaican.
American Fred Kerley took third place with a time of 9.81, while defending champion Marcell Jacobs was fifth.
It was the closest 1-2 finish in the 100 meters since at the very least Moscow in 1980—or possibly ever, when Briton Allan Wells beat Silvio Leonardo in an era before electronic stopwatches measured to thousandths of a second.
Thank God it’s so now.
Lyles is the first American to win the famous race since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
The 9.784 was also a personal best for Lyles, who promised so as to add his own exciting element to the track and this time he actually did.
He might be the favourite this week in the 200 metres – his higher event – and can try to hitch Usain Bolt as the last runner to win each Olympic sprints.
For comparison, the average blink of a watch lasts 0.1 second, which in this case was 20 times longer than the gap between the first and second halves.
What was the difference? Maybe Lyles’ closing speed and his lean into the line. He and Thompson had two of the three slowest bursts off the blocks, and Thompson had what was needed for a “lead” at the halfway point.
But it might take him greater than 10 seconds to determine. When Lyles learned he had won, he took off his badge and raised it into the sky, then put his hands at his sides and pointed them at the camera.
Yes, he’s the fastest man in the world. Just not by much.