Noah Lyles powered to golden glory in the men’s 100m final

Rhasidat Adeleke will make her Olympic debut in the heats of the women’s 400m.

EXTREMELY CLOSE FINAL: Noah Lyles of Team United States, Oblique Seville of Team Jamaica, Akani Simbine of Team South Africa, Kishane Thompson of Team Jamaica and Fred Kerley of Team United States cross the finish line during the men's 100m final. Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish, and that’s as true in the shortest race of all at the Olympics as it is in the marathon. At the Stade de France in Paris last night, Noah Lyles powered to golden glory in the men’s 100m final, coming from behind to finish just five thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson – both men clocking 9.79 (+1.0m/s).

After a solid semi-final, when he clocked 9.83 behind Jamaica’s Oblique Seville (9.81), Lyles emerged for the final wired to the hilt, hopping around in front of his blocks, geeing up the crowd. Thompson, who had the world lead at 9.77, got off to a decent start but the Jamaican had yet to face pressure like this, needing to stay relaxed as an Olympic gold medal appeared within grasp. Around the time Lyles loomed up in his peripheral vision, Thompson tightened up, and in the 100m there’s no bigger threat to top-end speed than tension.