Noah Lyles is Olympic Champion!!!!

Can’t believe he won after that trash start. Does anyone know his reaction time? If he had a decent start like he did in his 9.81 he wins easy.
First clean 100m champ in a long time.

His reaction time was 0.178. Kerley's was 0.108

He will never get a bullet start. But it's like what Carl Lewis says, it's not the start, it's how you finish.

Yes, I know there are some behaviors people don’t like that they try to lump under the term “a try hard.”

The bonus they get is feeling as though they’re superior, as though their own natural gifts and better personalities give them more than those “try hards” have.

It’s a weak point because no matter how one intends it, it winds up disparaging effort.

And trying to apply it to a champion who has overcome some difficulties and who just won a gold medal? Wow, that’s mindlessly negative and tone deaf.

I'll elaborate. It's fake and weird to watch. It's like elementary school play acting.

Lyles is the Muhammad Ali of sprinting. He thrives on pandemonium. As the old saying goes "it ain't braggin if you back it up".

What exactly do you think is fake? Lyles is honest about his interests/hobbies and being a geek. He’s been honest about his struggles. He’s honest about his aspirations. The stuff he does before the race is his genuine way of both psyching himself up and pumping up the crowd, which gives him energy. It works.

Alright, F it, let him run the 4x400. That was so clutch, ice in his veins to line up next to Kishane and run a PR.

Noah Lyles (USA): 9.79 (.784)
Kishane Thompson (Jamaica): 9.79 (.789)
Fred Kerley (USA): 9.81
Akani Simbine (South Africa): 9.82
Lamont Marcell Jacobs (Italy): 9.85
Letsile Tebogo (Botswana): 9.86
Kenneth Bednarek (USA): 9.88
Oblique Seville (Jamaica): 9.91

According to World Athletics, it's the first time in history that eight men have broken 10 seconds in a wind-legal race ( let alone=<9.91 )

Noah and Letsile were tied for the slowest rxn times. Kishane had the next slowest. Kerley had the best reaction and Marcell had the second best.

As the announcers said after the semis...Seville is great during the rounds

They made this track extra bouncy/fast to improve excitement/hype.

The second season of Sprint should be a great watch.

True, but when you look at each individual, the times aren’t beyond what we might expect for these athletes at their best. Lyles has been knocking on the door of 9.80, Thompson ran faster earlier this year, Kerley ran faster at the 2022 world championships, Simbine has run 9.84 before, Jacobs ran faster in Tokyo, Tebogo has run 9.88 a couple times, and both Bednarek and Seville have run faster elsewhere.

Yes, I heard this.

McRunnin said: "Not the best start, by Lyles, either..."

Disagree. Lyles isn't a naturally-good starter. The fact he stayed within two feet of Thompson through five meters means it was a pretty good start for him. He still needed every bit of his patented last-40-meter brilliance to win by a centimeter. The field was that good (nearly all under 9.9). What an exciting race.

Actually those were the words of GettingFasterDude, but I did concur. As others noted, Lyles and Tebogo had the slowest reaction time. I was concerned that Lyles wouldn’t be able to catch Thompson, particularly considering how Thompson looked in the semi. I’m of course ecstatic that Lyles caught him, if only barely.

The 100m is probably the signature Olympic event. Winning the 100m gold is historic.

Nope. His entrance only fuels my dislike even more. I prefer my champions to be less corny and self important. Nothing about him makes me want to cheer for him. It was basically a draw and he won by penalties. It happens.

What happened is that he caught the leaders and was in front when he crossed the line. That's how races are usually decided.

He congratulated Thompson after the finish, thinking the Jamaican had won. That isn't a big-head.