Noah Lyles went into Sunday’s men’s 100m at the Paris Olympics with so much on the line, and even he probably couldn’t have predicted the final playing out the way it did.
After giving Jamaica’s Oblique Seville a staredown while finishing second in the semifinal, Lyles saved his best for the final to become the fastest man in the world by the slimmest of margins.
In fact, the race was so close that the NBC broadcast initially thought that Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson had pulled off the win. It wasn’t until we got a look at the photo finish when we realized just how close Lyles’ win actually was.
Sheesh, Lyles by a fraction pic.twitter.com/9eDw1LeKeL
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) August 4, 2024
And here’s a look at the race:
NOAH LYLES’ OLYMPIC DREAM COMES TRUE!
100M GOLD MEDALIST. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/qR6bkXLHhE
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Simply wow. The final time of 9.79 seconds for Lyles edged out Thompson by five thousandths of a second. You won’t see many 10-second races have more drama than that, and fans were justifiably in awe over what unfolded.
This was how Twitter/X reacted
https://t.co/jtwe7VEKJD pic.twitter.com/ytoOgBbHWo
— Giulio Tonietti (@giuliotonietti) August 4, 2024
LOOK HOW CLOSE THIS IS!!! https://t.co/38jzQQ7nWs
— Christian De Guzman (@CTDeGuz) August 4, 2024
This is absolutely insane. Holy cow. https://t.co/0KqE4y7GsZ
— 🚀🚀Rockets are back!!🚀🚀 (@ChrisPrior13) August 4, 2024
This is so wild I can’t https://t.co/nAHupf2Ykh
— nocturnal animal (@blessthisbeast) August 4, 2024
Insane. Never seen a finish this close https://t.co/lDLYaLqMHQ
— Kevin Sullivan (@KevinSullivan9) August 4, 2024
This is the best shot of the photo finish. You can clearly see Lyles’s shoulders across the line first. https://t.co/ZuqbWDrSdE
— Lisa Marie (@LisaMarie) August 4, 2024
What a freaking race. https://t.co/ZKS9KVRLXt
— Thomas Phillips Ed.D (@tphil53) August 4, 2024
Run through the line children https://t.co/9fgbbrI27T
— Ravi Mahapatra (@doctor_rpm) August 4, 2024
These Olympics have been freaking amazing https://t.co/mPEag80YYh
— 🕶️ (@kevbo9) August 4, 2024
HOLY FINISH NOAH LYLES!!!!! pic.twitter.com/UGCvBFxHp1
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 4, 2024
Noah Lyles, take a bow. pic.twitter.com/PtIAp0szk1
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) August 4, 2024
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