In front of a roaring crowd filling Paris' Stade de France, Noah Lyles sprinted to gold on Sunday in a photo finish for the men's 100m, edging Jamaican competitor Kishane Thompson by just 0.005 of a second.
Now "the fastest man in the world," the American track star waited with his seven fellow runners for a call on the wildly tight race before word came in that he'd won his first gold medal.
Thompson placed for silver just a fraction of a second behind Lyles. American teammate Fred Kerley, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics, went home with the bronze with a time of 9.81.
Lyles' sprint was a personal best time of 9.79 in a race among eight of the fastest men in the world.
With body positioning part of the winning formula at the finish line, it's important to note Olympic rules base the official finish off the torso of the runner, from the clavicle down. So, crossing feet and arms don't count.
With his win, Lyles becomes the first American to win an Olympic gold in the 100 with his 9.79 since Justin Gatlin’s 9.85 in 2004.
Speaking after the race, the Alexandria, Va., native got emotional talking about his late high school track coach, Rashawn Jackson. Jackson, a coach at Alexandria City High School, died earlier this summer, the school announced in July.
"I remember when I was running on the back stretch and I was like, 'This one's for you, man', and I thought he was going to be here to see it," Lyles said before pausing to fight back tears.
"I know that he's watching...because he believed that I was gonna be a 100 meter runner just as much as I was going to be a 200 meter runner."
Earlier this year, Lyles said he wanted to win four gold medals at the Paris Games. He said winning his first in the 100m dash put him "on Cloud 9."
"I just got the hardest one out of the way," he said, adding that he's still got competition in other races.
"I felt that [the 100m] was the one that could have slipped away from me."
Next up for Lyles is the men's 200m on Tuesday, an event in which he is the reigning world champion.
Lyles won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in the 200m, at a time when he was vocal about struggling with his mental health.
Overcoming those struggles, Lyles has had an outstanding year on the track, and has made no secret of his wish to go for gold in both the 100m and 200m.
