This is where the craziest 100 meters in history ended – the controversial showman won without leading even a meter | Olympics

Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.

The 100-meter final races are always the climax of prestigious athletics competitions. A completely exceptional one was seen in Paris.

American showman Noah Lyles won the men’s 100-meter sprint Olympic gold with a record of 9.79. of Jamaica Kishane Thompson lost five thousandths. USA took the bronze Fred Kerley with a time of 9.81.

The race organizers made the most of the final in terms of showmanship. The athletes were presented in a hair-raising atmosphere created by the colored lights of the stadium and light wristbands distributed to the spectators.

While each athlete greeted the crowd in style, Lyles’ entrance was a completely different story. The man bounced, danced, shouted and swung wildly along the track.

– This is largely a question of whose side is right. This is 90% mental, expert Tuomas Raja your line just before the h-moment.

A confusing level and consistency

Usain Bolt did wonders back in the day, but back then Bolt and ME era were mostly against each other in competitions.

The most recent Olympic final has been widely called the greatest in history. First, all eight finalists fit within 12 hundredths.

This was also the first time in history that in the 100-meter race all eight runners broke the 10-second mark in permitted wind conditions.

Eighth place was taken by Jamaica Oblique Seville with a time of 9.91. At that time, the 2000s Olympics would have taken silver once and bronze twice.

Finland’s fastest man (10,12) Samuli Samuelsson enjoyed the extraordinary excitement of the Olympic final. He is amazed by its level and evenness.

– All within 12 hundredths. You don’t see that kind of competition at any level.

Places 4–8 have never been frozen in such tough times at the Games as in the finals in Paris.

Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson told the BBCthat it was “absolutely” the best 100m final he has witnessed.

– The final lived up to the hype. Through the rounds (preliminaries, semis) it looked like the number one man in the world statistics, Kishane Thompson, would win, as predicted.

From jumbo place to Olympic gold

How on earth did Lyles win the Olympic final, not leading by practically a meter?

When the runners crossed the finish line, no one knew who was the winner. It took an agonizingly long wait until Lyles’ name flashed first onto the scoreboard.

of Lyles and Letsile Tebogon the reaction time was the slowest in the final: 0.178. Bronze medalist Kerley’s equivalent was a whopping 0.108.

Lyles was last in the race still 40 meters before the finish line.

– Ten meters before the finish, Lyles was not even close to the medal, nor did he hope to win, saw the BBC expert Steve Cramwho is the 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the 1,500m.

But when Lyles reached his top speed of 28 mph, he could do better than anyone after that.

It took Lyles 0.84 seconds from 80 meters to 90 meters and 0.86 seconds for the last ten meters. Thompson’s equivalents were 0.85 and 0.87. That was enough.

– I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t ready to see it, and this is the first time I’ve said it, Lyles updated, referring to the moment his name appeared on the board as the winner.

It has been estimated that Lyles was the best at the end of the final, because he has been the world number one in the 200 meters for longer. Samuli Samuelsson sees that it is only partially true.

– Thompson and the others clearly started to squeeze in the last meters when they saw that they were stuck in first place. Lyles knew how to keep his running relaxed when others were freaking out.

Instead of special physical characteristics, it was the mental side that decided, Samuelsson’s line.

Among other things, Lyles’ three therapists, for three different purposes, must be really useful.

Does it qualify as the face of athletics?

Lyles has previously spoken of his dream of smashing Bolt’s ME times. At 100 meters, there’s still 21 hundredths of a way to go, and that’s a lot. In the 200m, Lyles’ record is 19.31, so ME is 12 hundredths away.

But Lyles knows that attention, fame and money can be gained in the entertainment business by more than just running.

Lyles’ antics have been seen, for example, in Netflix and the International Athletics Federation’s Sprint documentary series, where the other team members of the USA update Lyles’ shouting and arrogance.

Immediately at the opening of the Olympic Games, Lyles’ performance became a topic of conversation. The US Olympic team released a video from the Seine River. In the video, Lyles turns to the camera and yells, “What’s up, Team USA? This is Noah Lyles, the fastest man in the world”.

There was a stir because Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson (9.77) and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanya (9.79) had run faster than Lyles’ record this season. Lyles later clarified that times don’t matter, only titles do.

In last year’s World Cup, he got many NBA fans and players as well About Kevin Durant from his fury.

– It hurts me that I have to watch the NBA finals and it says “world champion”. World champion of what? United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love the USA, but it’s not the whole world… We are the world, Lyles joked to the press at the World Cup arena in Budapest.

The International Athletics Federation took the joy out of the commotion during the World Basketball Championships.

Denise Lewisthe 2000 7-event Olympic champion, said on the BBC that Lyles will be performing on the biggest stages for a long time to come and will be able to support the sport’s visibility worldwide.

– Doing that here (in Paris) with all the shows is absolutely brilliant. He is here to create a legacy.

Samuli Samuelsson has run with Lyles in the same race once, in last winter’s WC halls, but not in the same race.

– A big person. Really loves to make a show out of it. Some like it, some don’t. He does it his way. I think it’s always great that there are splashes of color in the sport. Not necessarily always serious concentration, but we bring our own personality to the screen.

– Lyles really knows how to make racing entertaining and entertaining.