Noah Lyles became the fastest man in the world on Sunday after winning the men's 100m at the Paris Olympics , but only by the smallest of margins .
The Team USA sprinter clinched gold with a time of 9.79 seconds, but it was the closest finish in the Olympics for 44 years. All eight finalists were separated by just 0.12 seconds, and 0.03 seconds was the difference between winning gold and not claiming a medal at all.
Lyles' time was tied with Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson, who ended up losing by five-thousandths of a second. Initially, it looked like Thompson had snatched the gold medal away from Lyles as both athletes anxiously looked at the screen after the race, but it was the Team USA sprinter who quickly started celebrating.
On the initial replays, it looked like Thompson's foot hit the finish line first, but upon an official review, the win was awarded to Lyles. Some fans were confused as the first images released were deceptive, but Lyles' win was correctly awarded when consulting the official Olympics rulebook.
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"The first athlete whose torso (as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line is the winner," the official rules state. It was a major blow for Thompson, but Lyles has now finally achieved his ambitions of becoming the fastest man and winning gold.
"You couldn't have asked for a bigger moment," Lyles told BBC Sport after the race. "A guy in biomechanics comes down and before I came out here, he said it was going to be this much, that's how close it is going to be and gosh was he right.
"I had to take every round as it was and I was a little upset after the first round so I came with the aggression and after I ran that 83 I was done with the aggression. My sports therapist told me you need to let go, you're holding on. Let go and release it."
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There were concerns heading into the 100m final for Lyles, as he came second in his heat when qualifying for the event. Lyles finished in 10.04 seconds, losing out to NCAA athlete Louie Hinchcliffe who won the heat in 9.98 seconds.
"These boys said they ain't coming to play," Lyles said. "And I guess that's my first lesson in underestimating the power of an Olympics. When somebody's on the line, they say they're going to give it their all or nothing. The plan was first. But it didn't happen. Second is fine. We'll make sure from here on out it's first."
Lyles stuck to his word, just, and won his first Olympic gold medal in style. The Team USA sprinter is planning to dominate like the legendary Usain Bolt, and told BBC Sport: "I hope you guys like Noah because I got a lot more coming!"
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