The entire world stopped, including the 80,000-strong crowd at Stade de France. Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson, who were competing for the title of the fastest man on earth, did not even know this. The race had taken less than ten seconds and those minutes before waiting seemed like years. Not until when ‘Noah Lyles’ flashed on the scoreboard.
Last in that race until he burst across the line, the American won gold in 100m.He had beaten Jamaican Thompson by .00005th of a second in a race where eight of its competitors ran under 10. Even Fred Kerley, who was World Champion and Tokyo Olympic silver medallist, placed third with 9.81s; however he finished just ahead of Akani Simbine.
From the moment Noah appeared on stage till then, he looked to have stolen the show. He cavorted excitedly among his fans as this American tried to declare himself king of this stage unto everyone else’s face. Although these people around him were champions too; despite that fact they would never give an inch.
It produced the greatest ever 100m dash of all time over following next ten seconds blitz during which were covered only 0.12s between first and eighth places – smallest gap ever recorded in Olympics or World Champs finals: Thompson reached out his foot first but Lyles pushed chest forward getting there just ahead.
“I was like ‘I’m going to be honest I think you got that one.’ And then my name popped up and I was like ‘Oh my god I’m amazing'” said Noah Lyles referring what he told to Thompson after their photo finish.
It was so much to take.”I had so many commercials going around and so many people saying that I’m going to be the one,” said the sprinter.” That is pressure because it’s not about me being bigger than moment ,it’s just meant for me.”
Let it go, let it flow, a therapist told the sprinter
Earlier in the semis, Noah Lyles came second to Oblique Seville with 9.81s: he was .02 behind. “To be honest if I’m running 9.83 in the semifinals I’m going to be hard to beat. And I called my therapist and she told me to let go, to let it flow… And I was like, ‘Alright I’m going to trust you’.”
Noah Lyles also thanked the crowd. “Oh my god that crowd was amazing. I couldn’t have a better crowd.” And over the next 9.8 seconds, he proved why he has become the darling of the crowd.
THE AMAZING RACE: THE PHOTO FINISH THAT DETERMINED THE WINNER
A photo finish refers to a situation where several contestants are very close together as they cross a line after running across each other for some time closely contested race. It is commonly done through photographic or video evidence.
Like VAR: The technology used here during 100m race used red lines on photograph of finish similar as Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in football did for analyzing its photo finish.
Not the foot but the chest first: This analysis unveiled Lyles’ trunk as having been the first thing that crossed over the finish line. Lyles’ torso was the first part of his body to pass through, although it looked like Thompson’s foot had gotten there before him. In this case, torso refers to chest, abdomen, pelvis and back.
2K scans/sec: Through using a new “slit video,” officials are able to capture up to 2000 scans every second at the finish line.
