American Noah Lyles beat Kishane Thompson to the Paris 2024 100m gold medal by just 0.005 seconds to win the most iconic race at the Olympic Games.
Lyles crossed the line first in a final that saw the eight men covered by just 0.12 seconds – the times clocked for fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth were world records for those positions at a major championship final.
Fred Kerley, 29, who was second in Tokyo, took the bronze medal at the Stade de France in front of 70,000 fans.
Lyles, 27, has been seen as the big new personality of men’s sprint racing in recent years, with the man from Gainesville often dividing fans.
As for Thompson, 23, his silver medal was a good return in what was his first ever major final.
Young Brit Louie Hinchcliffe finished third in his semi-final earlier in the evening, crossing the line with a time of 9.97, while Zharnel Hughes clocked 10.01 in his semi-final, finishing sixth.
Hinchcliffe said it was not his day while Hughes insisted he was disappointed but couldn’t make any excuses.
Lyles crossed the line first in a final that saw the eight men covered by just 0.12 seconds – the times clocked for fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth were world records for those positions at a major championship final.
Elsewhere at Paris 2024
Elsewhere at the Stade de France on Sunday it was a positive day for Team GB with a number of athletes qualifying through heats and semi-finals.
Favourite for the women’s 800m gold Keely Hodgkinson progressed through to tonight’s final with ease but fellow British competitors Phoebe Gill and Jemma Reekie were unable to get out of their respective semi-finals.
1500m world champion Josh Kerr is set to continue his rivalry with Jakob Ingebrigtsen after the duo qualified for tomorrow’s final. George Mills failed to progress but fellow Brit Neil Gourley did reach the final.
Daryll Neita, Bianca Williams and Dina Asher-Smith all qualified for the semi-finals of the 200m, with their next race tonight and the final tomorrow.
Matthew Hudson-Smith and Charlie Dobson progressed through their heats of the men’s 400m – their semi-finals will be tomorrow with the final set for Wednesday.
Team GB hopes
Away from track and field on Monday Team GB go for gold in the triathlon mixed relay, while there are medal chances in kayak cross and gymnastics.
The track cycling at Velodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines finally gets underway today.