Noah Lyles celebrates after winning the 100M gold.
Paris: Every elite athlete arrives for an Olympic Games with a mission. Noah Lyles’ goal was to complete a sprint treble triumph and attain cult status. The American showman completed one part of that on a steamy Sunday night after running the race of a lifetime that left the sporting world buzzing for a long time.
Fired-up after a slow performance in the semifinals and determined to bag the 100m gold following his bronze medal in Tokyo three years ago, the 27-year-old Lyles won an enthralling race by five thousandths of a second at the Stade de France that left everyone in utter disbelief.
Lyles was slow off the blocks as the powerful Kishane Thompson sped away with American Fred Kerley going toe to toe with the Jamaican. The two were easily headed for a grandstand finish but just when the elusive gold was slipping out of his hands, Lyles switched on his afterburners with about 25 metres to go.
He let it rip in the final dash and just about dipped his head at the right time, crossing the line with a personal best time of 9.79 seconds. Even then Lyles thought he may have left it too late as the giant screen took a while to flash the winner’s name in the fastest 100m ever seen with even the eight-placed Oblique Seville clocking 9.91 seconds.
And after a minute's wait, it flashed Lyles as the winner with Thompson adjudged second but given the same timing. Kerley took bronze at 9.81 with World Athletics confirming that it was the first time in history 8 men have broken 10 seconds in a wind-legal race. Just 0.12 seconds separated Lyles and Seville and the American was glad to have triumphed in a race that will be spoken about for a long time.
“It's the one I wanted, it's the hard battle, it's the amazing opponents," said Lyles who became the first American male to bag the 100m gold since Justin Gatlin accomplished it at the Athens Games in 2004. "I didn’t do this against a slow field, I did this against the best of the best, on the biggest stage, with the biggest pressure.”
Lyles, although happy to have lived up to rockstar image and gunning for the 200m and 4x100m gold, said he did feel the race was lost due to a slow start. "I did not think I won, I didn't think I dipped at the right time, too early. I even went up to Kishane while we were waiting and said 'I think you got that one.' But then my name popped up and I thought 'oh my gosh, I'm amazing’."
It was not just Lyles who was roaring in delight with Yaroslava Mahuchikh, Iryna Gerashchenko and Mykhaylo Kokhan bringing joy to the war-torn Ukraine with inspiring performances. Yaroslava Mahuchikh, one of star attractions in Paris and roared on a boisterous crowd, won the women’s high jump gold with a leap of 2.00 metres while Gerashchenko shared the bronze with Australia’s Eleanor Patterson. The silver was won by Nicola Olyslagers of Australia.
Kokhan (79.39m) settled for a bronze medal in the men’s hammer throw, finishing behind gold medal winner Ethan Katzberg (84.12) of Canada and Bence Halasz (79.97) of Hungary. Kokhan, who was one of the most sought after athletes in the mixed zone, said the three medals means a lot to Ukrainians.
“These medals are very important for Ukraine. Because our people finally have a happy time, they can cheer us, and they can celebrate this with us. Not to think about the war for one day.”