On Sunday afternoon, the fastest men in the world lined up across eight lanes in the men’s 100m in Paris to determine who would claim the title of “World’s Fastest Man.”
Entering the final, Jamaican sprinters Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville were the top two qualifiers followed by Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley of the U.S., Akani Simbine of South Africa, Letsile Tobogo of Botswana, Marcell Jacobs of Italy and Kenny Bednarek of the U.S.
The final for the men's 100m is set.
— First and Pen (@firstandpen) August 4, 2024
Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek are in for Team USA. ????????
But Jamaica's Kishane Thompson and Oblique Seville finished ahead of them all. ????????
The final will be ????????????????#Olympics #Paris2024 #Athletics pic.twitter.com/RkQmWQ8awU
The semifinals had been fast, with Jacobs and Bednarek losing in their heats but finishing with fast enough times to make the final. Jacobs was the reigning Olympic champion, Lyles the reigning World Champion and Thompson the biggest threat.
And while all were fast, only one man had a target on his back- Noah Lyles.
After a disappointing 2020 Olympic Games where he finished with a 200m bronze, Lyles found his groove over the next three years. At the World Championships in 2022, he took gold in the 200m. At the 2023 Worlds, he cemented his position in the sport as the man to beat after winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m.
That accomplishment made Lyles the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to win all three events and placed him second behind Bolt (4) with three gold medals in the 200m.
In 2022, Lyles ran his personal best in the 200m with 19.31, the third fastest in history (trailing only Bolt, 19.19 and Yohan Blake, 19.26). This year, he ran a personal best in the 100m of 9.81, just slightly under Thompson’s 9.77 run a month earlier.
But because of his persona, pre-race antics, Dragon Ball Z card exhibitions and unsuppressed confidence, Lyles was the runner everyone wanted to beat.
To his credit, he remained steadfast in his belief that he was the best.
After the first round of qualifying on Saturday, Lyles (10.04) placed second to Great Britain’s Louie Hinchliffe (9.98). In the semifinals, Lyles finished second behind Seville, and that’s when the doubters erupted.
Regardless, Lyles was in the final, accomplishing the first of two goals.
Now came the biggest race in his life.
