Phil Sesemann and his rise to the Olympic marathon.
The men’s 100 metres was well worth the wait. After a stunning light show ignited a packed Stade de France, the top sprinters on Earth stormed the track at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
On Sunday night, Lyles of Team USA, lived up to his self-generated hype, winning 100-metre gold in 9.79 seconds, just milliseconds ahead of silver medalist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, who also ran 9.79. The finish between Lyles and Thompson was so close, the rivals had to wait a few seconds after the race for a photo review.
American Fred Kerley claimed the bronze medal in 9.81, a season’s best. Akani Simbine broke the South African national record but finished off the podium in fourth.
It wasn't an easy race for the American to win; his reaction time out of the blocks wasn’t as quick as Thompson or Kerley and after 30 metres Lyles was in last place. However, once up to max speed Lyles came through the field to sealed the win with a perfectly timed lunge at the line. His win saw him become the first American sprinter to win an Olympic gold medal in the men’s 100 since Justin Gatlin won gold at the 2004 Athens Games.
After the race, Lyles told reporters he thought he finished second, believing he leaned too late. But the effort was just enough to come out on top three years after earning Olympic bronze in the 200 metres in Tokyo. The 100-metre victory is Lyles’s first Olympic gold medal.
“After the race I came up and we were waiting for the names to pop up, and I’ll be honest, I came over [to Kishane Thompson] and was like, ‘I think you got the Olympics dog,’” Lyles said. “He was out there in lane four and I was in lane seven, and I couldn’t really see what was going on over there.”
Ahead of the marquee event, the first round and semifinal heats set the stage for drama that unfolded later in the final.
Weeks after Who is Team GB sprinter Louie Hinchliffe at the Olympics, Lyles opened the rounds in Paris with a runner-up finish behind GB's Louie Hinchliffe in heat 3. Though the 27-year-old earned an automatic qualifier into the semifinal, it didn’t look easy.
“These boys aren’t coming to play. I guess that’s my first lesson in underestimating the power of the Olympics. When someone is on the line, they say they are going to give it their all or nothing. Now, I don’t have to hold back,” he told reporters in the mixed zone on Saturday.
In the semifinal, Lyles looked stronger, posting 9.83 seconds for a runner-up finish to Oblique Seville of Jamaica, who blasted a 9.81 personal best to win the first heat.
In contrast, Thompson looked in control throughout the rounds. The Jamaican sprint star won the first-round heat in 10.00 seconds and his next race in 9.80, the fastest mark out of the semifinal. This year, Thompson emerged as a pre race favourite after blazing a 9.77 world lead to win the Jamaican National Championships in June. Paris is the 23-year-old’s first global championship.
Fred Kerley made it safely through to the final after running a 9.84 season’s best in his semifinal heat. The 29-year-old looked like he was rounding into form three years after earning an Olympic silver medal in the 100 metres in Tokyo.
Reigning Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs made it into the final after earning a runner-up finish in the first-round heats and a time qualifier in the semifinal. The Italian athlete, who has struggled with injuries in recent years, spoke to reporters about the changes he’s made since the Tokyo Games, including a new coach and training system. “The last two years were difficult because I had a lot of pressure,” Jacobs said on Saturday. “When a lot of people talk about you, it is not easy. But I had to work, work, work. And now I am here.” Jacobs finished fifth in the Olympic final.
In Paris, Lyles set out to join legends such as Usain Bolt and Carl Lewis as double gold medalists in the 100 and 200. Last year, he won both events plus the 4x100-metre relay at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
Though he considers the 200 his signature event, Lyles has emerged as a force in the shorter sprint. The U.S. record-holder in the 200 won both races at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June and later lowered his 100-metre personal best to 9.81 seconds at the London Diamond League meet in July.
The three-time 200-metre world champion will also run the 200 in Paris. The first round begins on Monday, August 5.
How confident is he?
“Pretty confident,” Lyles told the press afterward. “I can’t lie. You know, Kenny Bednarek definitely put up a fast time at the Trials, and that definitely woke me up... None of them are winning. When I come off the turn, they will be depressed.”
