- The American athlete was just five thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaican Kishane Thompson and took the gold for the US | Main photo: EFE
American Noah Lyles became the fastest man in the world on Sunday, August 4, after winning the 100-meter final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a time of 9.79, which means a new personal best. The athlete was just five thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaican Kishane Thompson.
In Paris, in her first final, Lyles began the challenge she had come to the French city with: winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, the same triple she achieved exactly one year ago at the World Championships in Budapest.
The 27-year-old American sprinter went into the final knowing that the nearly 80,000 spectators who packed the Stade de France were watching him, and he responded by mounting a show before the race. Lyles encouraged the crowd, beating his chest and making conspiratorial gestures with the crowd.
The American athlete managed to improve in the race. In fact, when it seemed that Thompson would take the victory, Lyles began to lean his chest to make the difference.
The picture of Finished photo showed that although Thompson had his foot further forward, Lyles was much more astute. The rules of the race state that the winner will be the runner whose chest crosses the finish line first.
What is photo finish?
It is the verification of the arrival of the competitors to the finish line by means of an image that allows to elucidate the winner in such a disputed final. This image allows to see details that the human eye could not differentiate.
Usain Bolt maintains the record
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt holds the world record for the 100-meter dash, which is why he is known as “the lightning bolt” or “the fastest man alive.” At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the sprinter managed to set a time of 9.69 seconds, 0.10 seconds faster than Lyles.
At the World Athletics Championships held in Berlin in August 2009, Bolt covered 100 metres in 9.58 seconds. This record still stands as a feat in the history of athletics.
From the end of the 20th century until 2009, world records changed relatively quickly, as they were very tight and athletes constantly surpassed each other.
At the 2012 London Olympics, the Caribbean runner surpassed himself and ran the 100 metres in 9.63 seconds, a time that broke his own Olympic record from Beijing 2008.
On the other hand, the women’s world record for the 100 metres has not been broken since 1988. That year, the American athlete Florence Griffith stopped the clock at 10.49 seconds. It was at the Indianapolis trials, and also in 1988, Griffith made history at the Seoul Olympics by winning three gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4×100 metre relay.
When asked about the possibility of Noah Lyles breaking his record, the athlete replied that for now his mark was “safe.”
“I think my 100m record is safe for now. Most of the current athletes are running in the 9.70 and 9.80 seconds lately. I should have run under 19 seconds in the 200m. I wish I had done that during my career to hold the record longer,” Bolt said in an interview published on August 4.
With information from EFE
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2024-08-05 11:08:01
