Go beyond the scoreboard
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PARIS — Five-thousandths of a second.
Faster than the blink of an eye. Way faster than a heartbeat.
But just enough to make Noah Lyles the gold medalist in one of the closest, most-thrilling 100-meter finals in history. Never one to lack in confidence, even the new champion of the 2024 Summer Olympics struggled to process the moment.
“Oh my gosh,” he said. “I’m amazing.”
American Noah Lyles leans forward as he crosses the finish line narrowly ahead to the pack to win the 100-meter final at the 2024 Paris Olympics Sunday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
How close was it?
Immediately after the race, giant screens at both ends of Stade de France showed Fred Kerley of the U.S. in first, Lyles in second and Kishane Thompson of Jamaica in third — with the added disclaimer that it was being reviewed as a photo finish.
“I wasn’t sure,” Thompson said when asked if he thought he had won. “It was that close.”
How close?
Agonizing seconds passed. All eyes that had been focused on the track were now fixed on the scoreboards. The sprinters stood watching, waiting.
“I thought Thompson had it,” Lyles acknowledged. “I went up to him … I even said, bro, I think you got that one, big dog.”
Then the results appeared and the crowd roared. Though Lyles and Thompson were listed with the same time, the photo showed that the American had eked out a win by 9.784 to 9.789. Kerley dropped to third, two-hundredths of a second behind.
Never count out Noah Lyles! 😤 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/SwpHTfx6R3
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
The fifth-place finisher, defending Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy, was only six-hundredths back. The slowest time was Oblique Seville of Jamaica at 9.91.
“That is probably one of the most beautiful races I have been in for a long ... time,” Kerley said. “Everybody was twelve-hundredths of a second apart. I feel like it was a great race.”
For the first time ever, the international track federation said, all eight sprinters had broken 10 seconds in a wind-legal race. It was a big dose of redemption for Lyles after the disappointment of Tokyo three years ago.
Those Olympics, with their strict COVID protocols and spectator ban, proved tough for an athlete who has always considered himself an entertainer. Crowds normally inspire Lyles, especially during introductions, which he calls “the moment when I’m like, ‘It’s showtime!’”
U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles wants to not only break world records, but also be the showman and star that track and field can use to elevate the sport.
The empty, silent Japan National Stadium was disconcerting at a time when Lyles was also struggling emotionally and had just gotten off a prescribed antidepressant. After settling for bronze in his specialty, the 200 meters, he returned home knowing that no sprinter can be called great without Olympic gold.
It lit a fire in him.
“I had to look at what I’d done up to that point and say, ‘It’s not enough,’” he recalled. “That’s when I decided to put my nose to the grindstone.”
Both his running and his mental health gradually improved. There was a 200-meter gold at the 2022 world championships and then, in 2023, a breakthrough with golds in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay — the coveted sprint triple.
All of which landed him in Paris as a superstar and a favorite to win in all three of those races again.
Though Thompson and Seville had strong preliminary rounds — and Lyles looked a bit shaky — it apparently wasn’t anything that a quick telephone chat couldn’t cure.
“I called my therapist and she was like, you need to let go, you need to let it flow,” Lyles said. “And I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to trust you.’”
American Noah Lyles shouts toward TV cameras after winning the 100-meter final in Paris on Sunday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
It is no secret that his weakness is the first half of the race, and Sunday night was no different. A slow start left him in seventh place at 50 meters. Lyles broke out laughing when he was told later that, among all the sprinters, he had the slowest reaction time out of the blocks.
“You know, I’ve done worse,” he said before wincing. “Dang, slowest reaction time.”
Though Thompson had moved out faster, he knew that Lyles possessed elite closing speed, knew that his rival could close the gap. The problem was, they were four lanes apart and, with the field so tightly bunched, they could not see each other in the final meters.
“I wasn’t patient enough with myself to let my speed bring me to the line,” the Jamaican said.
Lyles, meanwhile, focused on staying upright and running through the finish, giving only the slightest lean at the end. After all he had been through in the last three years, the good and the bad, he found a way to stay relaxed.
“To be honest,” he said. “I just believed in myself.”
