IF THE RACE HAD BEEN 99m, Jamaican upstart Kishane Thompson would be wearing the gold medal. But it was 100, and Noah Lyles can rightfully claim the title of the World’s Fastest Man at age 27, triumphing in the deepest dash race of all time.
Reigning world champion Lyles had been the nominal favorite but the writing was on the wall: actually winning over world leader (9.77) Thompson might prove very difficult indeed. The rounds only encouraged that sentiment.
On Saturday, while rivals Thompson (10.00), Oblique Seville (9.99), Kenny Bednarek (9.97) and Fred Kerley (9.97) sailed through their heats, Lyles took 2nd to NCAA champion Louie Hinchliffe, 9.98–10.04.
Then in Sunday’s semis, Lyles produced a mediocre start and could not catch a very relaxed-looking Seville, who won 9.81–9.83. In semi II, it was the Africans who impressed, Akani Simbine winning in 9.87 to Letsile Tebogo’s 9.91, while defender Marcell Jacobs (9.92) and Bednarek (9.93) got the only time qualifying spots. In semi III, Thompson looked easy in beating Kerley 9.80–9.84, easing up and looking around. At 9.95 South African Benjamin Richardson won the dubious distinction of running the fastest non-qualifier ever.
Darkness fell before the Sunday night final. The stadium lights dimmed and a light show began, accompanied by the bass thumping. The tension in the air was almost painful as the race was delayed even further, with security tackling a protester who tried to get onto the track — an incident that only a few fans noticed.
At the start, the demeanor of the 8 sprinters told a story of its own. Most simply looked nervous. Tebogo and Jacobs, in lanes 8 and 9, were inexpressive statues. Lyles put on his usual show in lane 7. And Thompson, in 4, looked like a guy at a bus stop mildly irritated that the No. 24 was running late.
Then the commands; Thompson the last to settle into his blocks. At the gun, Kerley had the best reaction time, 0.108. Lyles and Tebogo had the worst (0.178), and Thompson not much better at 0.176. Yet those numbers don’t tell the full story of a start. It was Kerley and Jacobs who got out best, the Italian leading past 20m before Thompson took over.
The powerfully-built Jamaican and Kerley battled in adjoining lanes while Lyles struggled at the back. At 50m Thompson led at 5.56, with Kerley (5.58) closest. At 5.61 Lyles lingered in 7th. It wasn’t till after halfway that he started storming past the others. By 60m he was in 3rd, with Thompson and Kerley ahead. He caught Kerley some 10m from the line, but running down Thompson took an athletic and well-timed lean.
Celebrations were delayed as all 8 men stared in anguish at the scoreboard. For the first 7, instead of showing times, it read “photo,” indicating a finish so close that each place would need to be carefully reviewed. For 8th, it showed 9.90 (later corrected to 9.91) for Seville, who did not lean. It was the first race in history with every runner under 10.00, the deepest race ever (the USATF final in ’22 featured 7 under).
During the interminable wait, Lyles approached Thompson to say, “I think you got that one.” Then the results came up: Lyles gold, Thompson silver, both 9.79, separated by 0.005. Kerley won bronze with his 9.81 and Simbine had to settle for 4th with a South African Record 9.82. Best-ever-marks for place fell for 4-5-6-7-8. As Kerley quipped later, “Good-ass final.”
Said Lyles of his fastest-ever sprint, “When I saw my name, I was like, ‘I didn’t do this against a slow field. I did this against the best of the best, on the biggest stage, with the biggest pressure.’”
A happy but admittedly disappointed Thompson said, “I wasn’t patient enough with my speed.”
MEN’S 100 RESULTS
FINAL (August 04; wind +1.0)
(temperature 72F/22C; humidity 48%)
1. Noah Lyles (US) 9.79 PR (AL) (=6, x A)
(5.61/4.18);
2. Kishane Thompson (Jam) 9.79
(5.56/4.23);
3. Fred Kerley (US) 9.81
(5.58/4.23);
4. Akani Simbine (SA) 9.82 NR
(5.60/4.22);
5. Lamont Marcell Jacobs (Ita) 9.85
(5.60/4.25);
6. Letsile Tebogo (Bot) 9.86 NR
(5.61/4.25);
7. Kenny Bednarek (US) 9.88
(5.61/4.27);
8. Oblique Seville (Jam) 9.91
(5.60/4.31).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 4-8)
(lanes: 2. Bednarek; 3. Kerley; 4. Thompson; 5. Simbine; 6. Seville; 7. Lyles; 8. Tebogo; 9. Jacobs)
(reaction times: 0.108 Kerley, 0.114 Jacobs, 0.149 Simbine, 0.163 Bednarek, 0.171 Seville, 0.176 Thompson, 0.178 Lyles & Tebogo)
QUALIFYING (August 03)
I(0.6)–1. Ebrahima Camara (Gam) 10.29; 2. Muhd Azeem Fahmi (Mas) 10.42; 3. Marc Brian Louis (SGP) 10.43; 4. Sha Mahmood Noor Zahi (Afg) 10.64 NR; 5. Seco Camara (GBi) 10.76; 6. William Reed (MHL) 11.29 PR; 7. Karalo Hepoiteloto Maibuca (Tuv) 11.30 NR.
II(-0.3)–1. Davonte Howell (Cay) 10.31; 2. Sibusiso Matsenjwa (Swa) 10.39; 3. Didier Kiki (Ben) 10.76; 4. Herve Toumandji (CAf) 10.76; 5. Kenaz Kaniwete (Kyr) 11.29 PR; 6. Darko Pešić (MNE) 11.85;… dq—Steven Sabino (Moz).
III(0.1)–1. Noah Bibi (Mri) 10.27; 2. Franko Burraj (Alb) 10.60 PR; 3. Favoris Muzrapov (Tjk) 10.60; 4. Chun Hei Diu (HK) 10.62; 5. Melique Garcia (Hon) 10.76; 6. Rija Vatomanga Gardiner (Mol) 10.82 PR; 7. Manuel Belo Amaral Ataide (TLS) 11.35 NR; 8. Samer Al-Yafaee (Yem) 11.54 PR.
IV(0.2)–1. Chris Borzor (Hai) 10.26; 2. Marcos Santos (Ang) 10.31 NR; 3. Hachim Maaroufou (Com) 10.44; 4. Taha Hussein Yaseen (Irq) 10.51; 5. Adam Ibadulla (MDV) 10.55 PR; 6. Shaun Gill (Blz) 11.17; 7. James Fiti Scott (Mic) 11.61; 8. Ahmed Essabai (Lby) 11.89.
V(-0.4)–1. Naquille Harris (StK) 10.33; 2. Lalu Muhammad Zohri (Ina) 10.35; 3. Dominique Lasconi Mulamba (Con) 10.54; 4. Fode Sissoko (Mli) 10.66; 5. Joseph Green (Gum) 10.85; 6. Winzar Kakiouea (NRU) 11.15; 7. Remigio Santander Villarubia (EqG) 11.65; 8. Maleselo Fufofuka (TGA) 12.11 PR.
VI(0.3)–1. Arturo Deliser (Pan) 10.34; 2. Dyland Sicobo (Sey) 10.51; 3. Frank Hoye Moukoula Wissy (Gab) 10.59; 4. Jalen Lisse (Sur) 10.64; 5. Beppe Grillo (Mlt) 10.69; 6. Imran Rahman (Ban) 10.73; 7. Waisake Tewa (Fij) 10.73; 8. Mohd Noor Firdaus Idris (Bru) 10.86.
HEATS (August 03)
I(0.6)–1. Thompson 10.00; 2. Benjamin Azamati (Gha) 10.08; 3. Reynaldo R. Espinosa (Cub) 10.11; 4. Felipe Bardi (Bra) 10.18; 5. Akihiro Higashida (Jpn) 10.19; 6. Zohri 10.26; 7. Kayhan Özer (Tur) 10.34; 8. Matsenjwa 10.39;… dq—Jeremiah Azu (GB).
II(0.2)–1. Ferdinand Omanyala (Ken) 10.08; 2. Chituru Ali (Ita) 10.12; 3. Joshua Hartmann (Ger) 10.16; 4. Joshua Azzopardi (Aus) 10.20; 5. Devin Augustine (Tri) 10.31; 6. Erik Felipe Cardoso (Bra) 10.35; 7. Deliser 10.35; 8. Johnny Rentería (Col) 10.38; 9. Fahmi 10.45.
III(-0.2)–1. Louie Hinchliffe (GB) 9.98; 2. Lyles 10.04; 3. Shaun Maswanganyi (SA) 10.06; 4. Zhenye Xie (Chn) 10.16; 5. Owen Ansah (Ger) 10.22; 6. Ali Anwar Al-Balushi (Oma) 10.26; 7. Harris 10.38; 8. Markus Fuchs (Aut) 10.59; 9. Sicobo 10.62.
IV(0.0)–1. Seville 9.99; 2. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Jpn) 10.02; 3. Phooripol Bunson (Tha) 10.13; 4. Favour Ashe (Ngr) 10.16; 5. Duan Asemota (Can) 10.17; 6. Terrence Jones (Bah) 10.31; 7. Santos 10.40 PR; 8. Burraj 10.66; 9. Oliwer Wdowik (Pol) 11.53.
V(-0.3)–1. Kayinsola Ajayi (Ngr) 10.02; 2. Jacobs 10.05; 3. Abdul-Rasheed Saminu (Gha) 10.06; 4. Benji Richardson (SA) 10.06; 5. Hassan Taftian (Irn) 10.18; 6. Howell 10.24; 7. Henrik Larsson (Swe) 10.24; 8. Paulo André de Oliveira (Bra) 10.46.
VI(-1.1)–1. Simbine 10.03; 2. Ackeem Blake (Jam) 10.06; 3. Rikkoi Brathwaite (BVI) 10.13; 4. E. Camara 10.21; 5. Wanya McCoy (Bah) 10.24; 6. Rohan Browning (Aus) 10.29; 7. Simon Hansen (Den) 10.39; 8. Emanuel Archibald (Guy) 10.40; 9. Maaroufou 10.52.
VII(0.3)–1. Bednarek 9.97; 2. Emmanuel Eseme (Cam) 9.98; 3. Andre De Grasse (Can) 10.07; 4. Emmanuel Matadi (Lbr) 10.08; 5. Ryuichiro Sakai (Jpn) 10.17; 6. Bibi 10.19; 7. Ronal Longa (Col) 10.29; 8. José González (DR) 10.40; 9. Yaseen 10.50.
VIII(0.2)–1. Kerley 9.97; 2. Tebogo 10.01; 3. Zharnel Hughes (GB) 10.03; 4. Cejhae Greene (Ant) 10.17; 5. Borzor 10.28; 6. Arthur Gue Cissé (CI) 10.31; 7. Mulamba 10.53; 8. Dorian Rostan Keletela (Con) 10.58;… dq—Aaron Brown (Can).
SEMIS (August 03)
I(0.7)–1. Seville 9.81 PR (fastest semi ever); 2. Lyles 9.83; 3. Hinchliffe 9.97; 4. Eseme 10.00; 5. Maswanganyi 10.02; 6. Ashe 10.08; 7. Ali 10.14; 8. Brathwaite 10.15; 9. Azamati 10.17.
II(0.0)–1. Simbine 9.87; 2. Tebogo 9.91; 3. Jacobs 9.92; 4. Bednarek 9.93; 5. Blake 10.06; 6. Ajayi 10.13; 7. Hartmann 10.16; 8. Matadi 10.18; 9. Reynaldo R. Espinosa 10.21.
III(0.5)–1. Thompson 9.80 (fastest semi time ever); 2. Kerley 9.84; 3. Richardson 9.95 (fastest-ever non-Q); 4. Sani Brown 9.96 PR; 5. De Grasse 9.98; 6. Hughes 10.01; 7. Saminu 10.05; 8. Omanyala 10.08; 9. Bunson 10.14.
