It was a photo-finish between seven of the eight runners competing in front of a raucous 80,000 spectators in the Stade de France, with Lyles of the US edging by a whisker with a personal best of 9.79 seconds.
There had been a surreal moment of expectation and dread as the eight men at the finish line looked up at the big screen looming above them in the stands, awaiting news of who had won the tightest of races.
Then it flashed up: Lyles had the gold ahead of Jamaica's Kishane Thompson in second place and Fred Kerley, also of the US, was third after running in 9.81. Just 0.09 of a second separated Lyles in first place and Kenny Bednarek, also from the US, in seventh place. British sprinters Louie Hinchliffe and Zharnel Hughes did not make it out of the semis.
It is the first time an American has won the title since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
It had already been an uplifting night in the Stade de France with the Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who was forced to flee her country after Russia's full-scale invasion, winning gold in the women's high jump and Britain's Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway setting up a mouth-watering final in the men's 1500m.
Mahuchikh, 22, whose medal was a first individual gold of the Games for Ukraine following a victory in the women's team saber fencing, ran the perimeter of the Stade de France with the Ukrainian flag of yellow and light blue billowing behind here, after managing a best of 2.00 metres to beat Australia's Nicola Olyslagers.
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