SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles won the Olympic 100 metres by .005 seconds Sunday, waiting some 30 seconds after the finish of an excruciatingly close sprint to find out he’d edged out Kishane Thompson of Jamaica.
The world “Photo” popped up on the scoreboard after Lyles and Thompson dashed to the line. Lyles paced the track with his hands draped over his head. Finally, the numbers came up. Lyles won in 9.784 seconds to edge out the Jamaican by five-thousandths of a tick of the clock.
America’s Fred Kerley came in third at 9.81 and defending champion Marcell Jacobs finished fifth.
Canadian Andre De Grasse was eliminated in the semifinals. The 29-year-old was fifth in his heat and 12th overall in a season-best 9.98 seconds, with only the top two in each heat and the next two best times advancing to the final later Sunday. He was .05 seconds back of the eighth spot.
The native of Markham, Ont., barely qualified for the semis, taking the third and final spot in his opening heat at 10.07 seconds.
De Grasse’s best time this year (10.00 seconds) was just tied for 33rd in the world entering Paris, so he was not considered a strong medal contender in this event.
