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The 200m sprint is actually considered to be Noah Lyles' best event, but the fleet-footed American was nevertheless determined to make a bid for the famous 100-200 double gold medal. In fact, it might've been his skill set in the 200 that gave him just enough stamina to achieve gold in perhaps the closest 100m race ever.
No shade intended at the announcer given that Lyles only won by four thousandths of a second, but it was believed that Jamaica's Kishane Thompson was the winner at first glance.
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1820189100567400754
SHEESH that was close. Again, Lyles is more adept at the 200 meters, which obviously requires twice the distance to try to maintain top sprinting speed. To me, that accounts for how he was able to make a stunning surge to beat the competition in a true photo finish.
https://twitter.com/ComplexSports/status/1820188287744541153
https://twitter.com/SharpFootball/status/1820187379736379744
Lyles found a whole other gear in the final 15 meters or so before the finish line. Quite literally went from not making it to the podium to standing atop it with the gold medal. Unbelievable.
A new World's Fastest Man from the great US of A. Hell yeah. Lyles is also the first American sprinter to win the Summer Olympics 100m dash since Justin Gatlin at the 2004 Athens Games. We've got some pretty special athletes from this great land who come in all shapes and sizes. Say what you will about golf, but
Scottie Scheffler put up a 62 today to get the gold. Simone Biles might have two
more gold medals to win at these Olympics in gymnastics, yet she's
still not ruling out one more ride at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
And now Noah Lyles joins those names in immortality as a gold medalist in Paris. Looking forward to see if he can pull off the double in the 200m. The final for that race isn't until Thursday. Plenty of time for Lyles to rest up, recharge, and redeem himself for getting the 200m bronze as the Tokyo Olympics favorite in 2020.