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Olympics stunned by 'insane' moment as Noah Lyles wins 100m final in crazy photo finish

The American sprinter got the chocolates by just five one-thousands of a second.

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·4-min read

Noah Lyles has won an incredible 100m final at the Paris Olympics, leaving viewers stunned at how close the finish was. The American superstar pipped Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson on the line, with both sprinters registering a time of 9.79 on the scoreboard in the arena in Paris.

There was an agonising wait while officials determined who had got the chocolates, and it came down to five one-thousands of a second. But in the end it was Lyles who was declared the winner, with fellow American Fred Kerley getting the bronze in 9.81.

Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson.
Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson were only separated by five one-thousands of a second in the 100m final at the Olympics. Image: Getty

"This is agonising. The wait lasted longer than the race," Gerard Whateley said in commentary for Channel 9. "Noah Lyles set himself up for this moment. He wanted to transcend and he is the star of athletics now. In one of the closest finishes the Games has ever seen."

Noah Lyles, pictured here crossing the finish line first in the 100m final.
Noah Lyles crossed the finish line first. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Tamsyn Lewis said Lyles had seemingly dropped out of reckoning with an uninspired run in the heats. "Noah Lyles, that was amazing," she said. "He needed to react to the gun better than he did, especially in that heat. He came into today with everybody talking about 'is Noah Lyles even in shape?' because his heat was a little bit not the Noah Lyles that we're used to in the semi-final.

"But he is such a big-time performer. He feeds off the crowd. It certainly delivered, that race, didn't it? I don't think a lot of people thought Noah Lyles was going to win that after the heat. And he has been able to deal with that pressure."

Noah Lyles.
Noah Lyles celebrates after winning the men's 100m final at the Paris Olympics. (Photo by LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)

The time in the final was Lyles' personal best, overhauling his rival in the second half of the race. In stunning scenes, all eight finalists finished within 0.12 seconds of the winner.

Lyles admitted after the race that he didn't think he won. “I went to Kishane, I said, ‘I’ll be honest, I think you had that one’," he said. "I was prepared to see his name pop up. I saw my name pop up and I said, ‘goodness gracious, I’m incredible’. It’s the one I wanted. It’s the hard battle, the amazing opponents, everybody was healthy and came to fight. I’m the wolf among wolves.”

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Viewers were blown away by the insane finish and how close it ended up being. "This was PEAK DRAMA! I have never seen anything like it," one person wrote on social media. "Noah Lyles wins by the barest of margins. Kishane Thompson gave a incredibly tough fight in his first Olympics. This was the best moment of this year's Olympics."

Another added: "I have never seen a 100m in an Olympics Games where I didn't know who won the race. That was electric nice job Noah Lyles!!!"

It makes Lyles the first American man to win gold in the 100m at the Olympics since Justin Gatlin in 2004. The 27-year-old is trying to pull off the 100-200m double in Paris. "It’s me. It’s always going to be me," he said before the race. "Everybody knows that the title goes to the Olympic champion and the world champion, which I am one of and soon to be another one of."

with agencies