US sprint star Noah Lyles won the Olympic 100m title by five-thousandths of a second from Jamaica's Kishane Thompson in a dramatic photo finish at Paris 2024.
Showman Lyles overhauled his rivals in the second half of the race to triumph by the finest of margins in a personal best 9.79 seconds.
That was the same time as Olympic debutant Thompson, who led for most of the race, but Lyles produced a spectacular late charge to kick-start his bid for a potential four golds at these Games.
The United States' former world champion Fred Kerley took bronze in 9.81, edging out South Africa's Akani Simbine for the podium.
After a lengthy wait behind the start line to a backdrop of dramatic music in a frenzied atmosphere at Stade de France, all eight finalists finished within 0.12secs of Lyles in a remarkable race.
Such was the standard of the final - which GB's Zharnel Hughes and Louie Hinchliffe failed to reach - Italy's reigning champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs was run out of the medals and another Jamaican rising star, Oblique Seville, finished last in 9.91. In the end it was Lyles, an athlete who thrives on the sport's grandest stages and who won three golds at last year's World Championships, who sprinted away in celebration once the official result appeared on the big screen.
The 27-year-old repeatedly rang the victory bell by the side of the track after establishing himself at the pinnacle of the sport, before he targets further success in the 200m and relay events.
"You couldn't have asked for a bigger moment," Lyles, who was seventh at the halfway stage, told BBC Sport.
"I had to take every round as it was and I was a little upset after the first round, so I came with the aggression and... I ran 9.83 [in the semi-final].
"I hope you guys like Noah because I've got a lot more coming!"
Lyles has remained outspoken and unflinching in his belief that he has the on-track ability and off-track aura to replace Usain Bolt as the new superstar of men's athletics.
The American has talked the talk but he continues to back it up when it matters most.
Lyles last year became the first man since Bolt in 2015 to win a 100m and 200m world double, before completing a golden treble in the 4x100m relay. Lyles claimed in the build-up to the Paris Games that he would look to add the 4x400m to that haul in the French capital, and he hinted at his form when running a 100m personal best at the London Diamond League last month.
Reuters add
Thompson Disappointed
Thompson arrived in Paris as the fastest man in the world this year (9.77) and was the quickest of the semi-finalists on Sunday with 9.80.
“I am a bit disappointed, but I am happy at the same time," he said. "I wasn’t patient enough with myself to let my speed bring me at the line in the position that I know I could have gone to."
Former world champion Kerley also ran an excellent race to add bronze to his Tokyo silver.
"That was a great race and anyone could have won it," he said.
"I feel that I executed as best as I could. I came here for the gold and nothing else but, hey, everybody came here for the same thing and only one can win. Whoever came off the best, is the best."
Seville had finished ahead of Lyles in the semi-final when the American looked to be at full stretch.
However, the biggest showman in the sport and the star of the runaway success Netflix SPRINT series, has become a serious championship operator over the shorter distance, having won three 200m world titles and 200m bronze at the last Olympics.
