American sprinter has been talking about this for so long, sketching out his legend in plain sight. It took 30 paces to make it real
Noah Lyles always said he was a star. He told anyone who would listen, from coaches, to fellow athletes, to the population of the world via the high-rolling Netflix film Sprint. Well, now they really are going to have to believe him, as on a lovely soft powder blue night in Saint-Denis, Lyles produced one of the most startling Olympic sprint final finishes to claim the Paris 2024 men’s 100m gold medal.
Lyles, the US and world No 1, had been an extraordinary presence in the buildup to this race. He is almost overwhelmingly charming in the flesh, all superstar sheen and utterly disarming honesty about his own flaws, his own superhero strengths, always on, always capturing the main stage. By the time he reached the start line in Paris for the men’s final – along with the women’s race, the keynote of this entire two-week circus – there was a sense of a man right on the edge. But of what exactly?
