Noah Lyles from the USA took the gold medal in the 100 metres and had luck on his side in the Stade de France. After a photo finish, five thousandths of a second decided the difference in favour of the 27-year-old three-time Budapest world champion, who triumphed in a personal best time of 9.79 seconds. Lyles won ahead of Jamaican Kishane Thompson (9.79) and fellow countryman Fred Kerley (9.81).
“I delivered. It’s great that the sprint gold is flying back to the United States,” said the champion. “Everyone was prepared for the fight and I wanted to prove that I am the man among all. I am the wolf among wolves,” said Lyles after he triumphantly held up his name tag in front of around 70,000 fans and danced across the track. Before the start he had made a number of insults – perhaps to relieve the great pressure.
Lyles is the first Olympic sprint champion from North America since Justin Gatlin, who was the fastest in Athens in 2004. Austrian Markus Fuchs was eliminated in the preliminary round in Paris.
In the women’s race on Saturday, Julien Alfred from Saint Lucia sensationally won in 10.72 seconds, giving her nation its first ever medal at the Summer Games.
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