• Three-time world champion Noah Lyles adds Olympic gold to his bustling trophy cabinet
• The American gold medalist expressed his delight after the thrilling battle
• Despite all sprinters finishing under 10 seconds, Usain Bolt's unbeaten record remains untouched

The 20-year wait for America for an Olympic gold in the 100-metre race is now over as Noah Lyles brings back glory days for the powerful nation since the Athens 2004 Olympics. 

Lyles finished first with a very tight margin, outpacing Kishane Thompson of Jamaica and his American compatriot, Fred Kerley. In a dramatic turn of events, it looked quite clear at the beginning that Thompson was going to emerge the winner until Lyles overtook him at the last second by a few milliseconds.

World champion Noah Lyles clinches Olympic gold in 100m race

Noah Lyles started his sprint campaign by finishing second in round 1, just behind Great Britain’s Hinchliffe, who edged by 0.06 seconds. 

His next game was in the semifinals, where he faced athletes like Nigeria’s Favour Ashe, Jamaica’s Seville, and Hinchliffe, whom he had battled in the previous round. 

Jamaica’s Seville won the semifinal race event for their category on Saturday with America’s Noah Lyles coming in second position once again. 

In the final race on Sunday evening, Lyles won by a very thin margin, finishing just five-thousandths of a second faster than Thompson (9.784 seconds) to (9.789 seconds) though both times will be rounded to 9.79 seconds to clinch the gold title. Lyles' compatriot Fred Kerley took bronze in 9.81sec. 

It was the closest win since electronic timers were introduced at the Olympics. 

Elated Lyles speaks after triumph

After a wait of a few seconds, it was confirmed that Lyles had won. The result led to a huge celebration from the reigning 100m and 200m world champion, who is seen as one of the biggest stars in athletics. The Olympic gold medalist said after the race:

"It's the one I wanted. 

"It's the hard battle, it's the amazing opponents. Everybody's healthy, everybody came prepared for the fight and I wanted to prove that I'm the man amongst all of them. I'm the wolf amongst wolves."

Lyles admitted that he wasn't sure if he had won the gold medal because he knew very well it was a tight call.

"I went up to Kishane and I was like, 'I'm gonna be honest, bro, I think you had that one,'" Lyles said.

"And I was fully prepared to see his name pop up and to see my name pop up, I'm like goodness gracious. I'm incredible."

No wonder it was the first 100m Olympic final to have all sprinters finish under 10 seconds.

Usain Bolt's record remains unbeaten

Despite Lyles' remarkable performance at the Olympics final on Sunday evening, Usain Bolt's world records remain intact, reflecting the high standard the retired Jamaican athlete has established for future athletes. 

Bolt holds the world record for the men's 100m (9.58 seconds) and 200m (19.19 seconds) sprints. Bolt finished his career with eight Olympic gold medals after having one of them revoked. 

His retirement marked the end of an era in sprinting, as he remains the only athlete to win gold in the 100m and 200m at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016) before he hung his racing boots.

Paris Olympics 2024: Ashe and Ajayi struggle as Ogazi shines for Nigeria

Previously, TheRadar reported that Ashe and Ajayi struggled to impress fans who had expected at least one of the duo to go through to the finals in the 100-metre event. Favour Ashe and Kanyinsola Ajayi made the news after their spectacular previous appearance before the semifinal on Sunday evening, which turned out to be their last outing at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Nigerians are now hoping Ogazi doesn’t dash their hopes of a spot in the final when he competes in the semifinal.