Noah Lyles, with his heart in his fist and looking longingly at the screen, took a long time to discover that he was the fastest man at the Paris Games, the king of the 100 meters, the most famous gold medalist on the planet. The stopwatch is to blame, or rather, the unusual parity of the closest hectometer final in history. Just five thousand gave the 27-year-old Florida Cyclone the first Olympic 100 meters title for an American since 2004. 20 years, no less, since the victory of Jutin Gatlin, a drought with a first and last name , Usain Bolt, king until 2016, with the end of the Italian Marcell Jacobs, the man who resigned yesterday from the crown of Tokyo.
The effect of numbers. Lyles, last year’s world champion, won with 9.79, the same mark as Jamaican Kishane Thompson, with a meter of wind in his favour. The tiebreaker was microscopic, five thousand in favor of Lyles: 9.784 for gold, 9.789 for silver (hundreds rounded up). The United States put Fred Kerley, former world champion, in bronze (9’81), with Simbine stuck (9’82) and Jacobs fifth (9’85) and injured at the end. Seven men dropped below 9″90, but the ‘mark’, near 9″70, which might have been expected was not seen. Lyles’s was not even the best mark of the year, which was still the Thompson (9.77) at the Jamaica Trials.
What happened? That Noah Lyles shows that, despite not being Bolt or pretending, despite his showmanship and his extroverted character, he has flaws like his flawed beginning, which continues to punish him. In the final, it took him more than half a race to catch Kerley and Thompson. But he also happens to be a great competitor. He has shown it in two consecutive World Cups, with almost no failures since he left his depressive episodes after the Tokyo Games. It was hard for him, he could lose it, but the pressure didn’t overwhelm him and he didn’t let it get away.
It wasn’t a huge victory, but it was the one he personally needed, and a major victory for the United States, not only because it regained the 100-meter title after 20 years, but because Lyles was now emerging as a major star. for US sport in view of the promotion of the Los Angeles Games, which if nothing bad happens, it will come. And so, by the way, he assures Adidas, who signed him a lucrative contract this year, they say worth 2.5 million dollars annually.
It is the first step towards the triple that the new king of the 100 is chasing Lyles is overwhelming favorite in the 200 metres, his real test, where he holds a ‘Bolt’ level record, 19.31, and he will. will not be lost in the 4×100 where the United States is also a favorite. It will be more difficult for those responsible for the team to decide to line him up in the 4×400, as he wants.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Jason Root, a professional writer working with Today Times Live, the premier news website. I specialize in sports writing, covering the biggest stories in the world of athletics. With an eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, I provide engaging and informative articles that capture the key elements of any event or issue. My work has been featured on numerous respected websites and publications around the world.
