Noah Lyles Is Not the Olympic 100m Favorite… Kishane Thompson Is
Betting Markets Favor Jamaica's Thompson
By Harper Clark
Noah Lyles is the reigning world champion at 100m.
In his last race, he ran faster than he ever has for 100m, a 9.81 personal best to win the London Diamond League.
Yet he is not the betting favorite for the Paris Olympic 100m title.
That title belongs to Kishane Thompson – the 23-year-old Jamaican champion who have never participated at the World Championships or Olympics. Thompson, who hasn’t lost a 100-meter race this year; ran sub-9.85 in each of the three races at the Jamaican Championships – finishing his spree with a 9.77 personal best in the final.
Kishane Thompson the Favorite in the Betting Markets
Fanduel Sportsbook, the biggest sportsbook in the USA, has Thompson at +125 to win Olympic gold, which equates to a 44% chance of winning. Lyles has the second-best odds at +170, or a 37% chance of winning. Behind Thompson and Lyles are Oblique Seville (+750) and Letsile Tebogo (+1700).
Draft Kings, the #2 sportsbook in the US based on size, rates Noah as +200 (33%) to win the 100m, and Thompson -105 (51.2%). Don’t despair Lyles fans: that means you can make more money on him if he wins.
Kambi Play, which provides odds for primarily overseas sports books, has Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson at equal odds (2.25), which equates to +125 (44.4%) for both men, but we can’t find a single sportsbook that lists Lyles ahead of Thompson.
Fan Duel 100m odds as of July 21st 10pm eastern
Good News for Noah Lyles Fans – He’s Run the Fastest Wind-Adjusted 100m in the World This Year
Not only did Lyles just run the fastest 100m of his life (9.81) in London, but when you account for the .3 m/s headwind, his 9.81 100m is equal to 9.79 in wind-neutral conditions, according to Jonas Mureika’s wind/altitude 100m converter.
Kishane Thompson’s 9.77 had a .9 m/s tailwind and converts to 9.81 wind-neutral.
| Athlete | Fastest 100m Time 2024 | Wind | Wind Adjusted Time |
| Kishane Thompson | 9.77 | .9 m/s | 9.81 |
| Noah Lyles | 9.81 | -.3 m/s | 9.79 |
So Noah Lyles has run the fastest wind-adjusted 100m this year. Does that mean he will come out on top at the Paris Olympics? Tune in 3:50 p.m. Eastern on NBC on Sunday, August 4, to find out.
Discussion: Is Noah Lyles a lock to win the 100m and 200m in Paris?
*Analysis of FanDuel’s odds for Men’s 100m Final (when this thread was started 2 weeks ago, Thompson was +200)
