Lyles backs up fighting talk with gold in the 100m final

World champion, Olympic champion.

- LAWRENCE OSTLERE

Noah Lyles talked an awful lot of talk in the build-up to Paris 2024, but he backed up the bluster with a late, late burst on the Stade de France track, surging past the field to pip them all on the line. There can be no argument now. “What’s the title of the Olympic champion?”

Lyles said, referring to the “fastest man on the planet” tag that goes with gold. “Amen.”

It doesn’t matter that he didn’t get near the world record he said he’d break, finishing in 9.79; or that it came down to five-thousandths of a second, quicker than the time it takes the human eye to blink; or that he finished second in his heat and his semi-final too. Lyles delivered when it mattered most.

Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson had been burdened with the title of heir to Usain Bolt after running the fastest time this year, and he led for 99m of this race. But Lyles fought back from dead last at 40m, and they crossed the line together.

Thompson roared in celebration but his face dropped when the giant screen displayed “photo finish” by his name. They stared up from purgatory, waiting for the verdict.

“Kishane, I think you got it, man,” Lyles told Thompson, with a pat on the shoulder.

Thompson looked pained. “Come on, man!” he shouted at the screen, urging it to move. “Come on, man!”