American Noah Lyles became the fastest man in the world when he won the Olympic 100-meter final at the Stade de France in Paris with a personal best time of 9.79, just five-thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaican Kishane Thompson.
In Paris, in her first final, Lyles began the challenge she had come to the French city with winning gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, the same triple she achieved exactly one year ago at the World Championships in Budapest.
Also Read: Julien Alfred, the First Saint Lucian Makes History in the Women’s 100m at Paris 2024
The 27-year-old American sprinter went into the final knowing that the nearly 80,000 spectators who packed the Stade de France were watching him, and he responded by putting on a show before the race, encouraging the crowd, beating his chest, and making gestures of complicity with the stands.
His 0.178 reaction time was the worst of the eight finalists, so he had to fight back during the race, something he did with that speed that saved him from a bad start halfway through the race. At the finish, he stopped the clock at 9.79, the same time as the young Jamaican Kishane Thompson, who arrived just five thousandths later to take the silver and surprise the American Fred Kerley, who settled for bronze with his 9.81.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, a time of under ten seconds in the semi-finals did not allow access to the final. The level of competition to enter the fight for the medals was enormous, with the cut-off time set by the American Kenneth Bednarek at 9.93.
Medal Table
Noah Lyles’ victory in the 100-meter final in athletics on Sunday put the United States team ahead of the medal table at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and knocked China off the lead.
The United States has a total of 71 medals in Paris 2024, divided into 19 gold, 26 silver, and 26 bronze.
China drops to second place with the same number (19) of golds, but with 15 silvers and 11 bronzes for a total of 45.
Host France remains in third place in the medal table with 12 gold, 14 silver, and 18 bronze medals, for a total of 44.
Paris 2024 medal table:
Gold Silver Bronze Total
19 26 26 71
USA
19 15 11 45
China
12 14 18 44
France
12 11 8 31
Australia
10 12 15 37
Britain
10 7 7 24
South Korea
9 5 10 24
Japan
7 10 5 22
Italy
6 5 4 15
Netherlands
5 5 2 12
Germany
5 4 8 17
Canada
3 3 2 8
Hungary
3 3 1 7
Romania
3 0 3 6
Ireland
2 4 1 7
New Zealand
2 3 2 7
Sweden
2 1 3 6
Ukraine
2 1 1 4
Croatia
2 0 3 5
Belgium
2 0 2 4
Hong Kong
2 0 0 2
Azerbaijan
2 0 0 2
Philippines
2 0 0 2
Serbia
1 4 5 10
Brazil
1 4 1 6
Israel
1 2 5 8
Spain
1 2 1 4
Georgia
1 1 4 6
Switzerland
1 1 2 4
Kazakhstan
1 1 2 4
South Africa
1 0 2 3
Taiwan
1 0 2 3
Uzbekistan
1 0 1 2
Czech Republic
1 0 1 2
Guatemala
1 0 0 1
Algeria
1 0 0 1
Argentina
1 0 0 1
Chile
1 0 0 1
Dominica
1 0 0 1
Ecuador
1 0 0 1
St. Lucia
1 0 0 1
Norway
1 0 0 1
Slovenia
1 0 0 1
Uganda
0 2 1 3
Jamaica
0 2 1 3
Mexico
0 2 1 3
North Korea
0 1 4 5
Greece
0 1 3 4
Poland
0 1 1 2
Kosovo
0 1 1 2
Türkiye
0 1 0 1
Armenia
0 1 0 1
Denmark
0 1 0 1
Ethiopia
0 1 0 1
Better
0 1 0 1
Mongolia
0 1 0 1
Tunisia
0 0 3 3
India
0 0 3 3
Tajikistan
0 0 2 2
Dominican rep
0 0 2 2
Moldavia
0 0 1 1
Austria
0 0 1 1
Cape Verde
0 0 1 1
Cuba
0 0 1 1
Egypt
0 0 1 1
Granada
0 0 1 1
Indonesia
0 0 1 1
Lithuania
0 0 1 1
Malaysia
0 0 1 1
Portugal
0 0 1 1
Slovakia
