Noah Lyles emerged victorious in the men’s 100-meter final on Sunday at the 2024 Paris Olympics, breaking a 20-year dry spell for the American athletes.
The 27-year-old Lyles clocked in at 9.784 seconds, narrowly beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by just five-thousandths of a second to claim the gold medal. Fred Kerley, another American, clinched third place with a time of 9.81 seconds.
David J. Phillip/AP
Lyles becomes the first American to secure Gold in the men’s 100-meter sprint since 2004, when Justin Gatlin triumphed in 9.850 seconds.
With 19 gold medals, the United States is currently tied with China, but leading the Olympic medal count with 71 in total.
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Lyles achieved a personal best with this victory and looks forward to competing in the men’s 200-meter final, his stronger event, later this week. He aims to follow in the footsteps of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt by winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter Olympic finals.
Following Julien Alfred’s victory in the women’s 100-meter title, securing Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic medal, Sunday marked the largest margin of victory in the women’s 100-meter event since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce claimed gold for Jamaica.
