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SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles has been claiming to be "the fastest man alive" since becoming the reigning world champion in the 100-meter race last year.
After Sunday night's race, the American can now claim that title without contest.
Lyles ran 9.79 seconds, a personal best, in the Sunday night competition at Stade de France, to claim his first Olympic gold.
Ahead of start time, Lyles, known for his dramatics and showmanship, came onto the track with arms raised to whip up the crowd, finishing his pre-race show by darting up and down about a quarter of the 100-meter distance he was about to run.
Once the shot fired, the American got a classically sluggish start but accelerated enough to beat Jamaica's Kishane Thompson, who — before tonight — was the fastest man this year. He also posted 9.79, prompting a nail-biting few moments as everyone in the stadium waited for the photo finish results to develop.
Computers show Lyles leaned forward to cross the line five-thousandths of a second faster than Thompson.
Before the final results posted, Lyles told reporters he thought it was Thompson who finished first, not him.
"I was like, oh man I’m really gonna have to swallow my pride, which I don’t have a problem doing. Respect deserves respect, and everybody in the field to be honest came out knowing that they could win this race."
Fred Kerley of the U.S. came in third place .02 seconds later to win bronze.
Lyles' victory in the 100m is the first U.S. gold in the Olympic event since Justin Gatlin won in 2004.
As for Thompson, he'll be the first Jamaican to make it to the podium since Usain Bolt’s Olympic reign ended with the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
"This is the closest medal," Thompson said after the race. "I couldn’t see him, but I thought he was seeing me. He said, ‘Hey Kishane I thought you got it,’ and I said, ‘I am not sure.’ "
In the semifinal, fellow Jamaican Oblique Seville ran a personal best 9.81, finishing ahead of Lyles by .02 after the American had another rough start.
Lyles' celebrity rose after last month's release of the Netflix docuseries Sprint, which follows several of the fastest runners currently at the Paris Games in their quest for Olympic gold.
Lyles is the reigning world champion in the 100m and the 200m. It’s also why the showman already liked to call himself the "fastest man alive." He also won the bronze in the 200-meter race at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Ultimately, Lyles is chasing Bolt’s world record in both. Bolt's 100-meter record is 9.58 seconds.
Lyles is not known for his start out of the blocks. In fact, an official timing analysis of the final showed that for the first 40 meters of Sunday's gold-medal race, he was in last place.
It's why the 200-meter is his better event. He'll have a chance to prove that on Thursday night.
If he does win, Lyles would be the first male sprinter to achieve the Olympic sprint double since Bolt did it at Rio in 2016.
At a post-race press conference, Lyles was asked to look in to the future.
He said sprinting greats should be seen at the same level as basketball superstars — and have their own big sponsorships. He says that he even wants to have his own sneaker line.
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