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 Americans.
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. American Fred Kerley secured the third spot with a time of 9.81 seconds.
David J. Phillip/AP
Lyles becomes the first American to clinch Gold in the men’s 100-meter dash since Justin Gatlin’s victory in 2004 with a time of 9.850 seconds.
The United States and China are now tied for the most gold medals with 19 each, but the U.S. leads in total Olympic medals with 71.
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Lyles achieved a personal best with his win on Sunday, setting the stage for a strong performance in the upcoming men’s 200-meter final, his preferred event. He aims to follow in the footsteps of Jamaican Usain Bolt as a dual gold medalist in the 100-meter and 200-meter Olympic finals.
The men’s final followed Julien Alfred’s victory in the women’s 100-meter event, where she secured Saint Lucia’s first-ever Olympic medal by finishing in 10.72 seconds. It marked the largest winning margin in the women’s 100-meter race since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce claimed gold for Jamaica.
