It has now been revealed what Noah Lyles told Kishane Thompson following their intense finish at the men’s 100-meter final.
Now if you tuned in to watch the event that took place yesterday (August 4) at the Stade de France, then you’ll know the about the drama that unfolded.
Eight men waited at the starting line, all competing for that one gold medal - and let’s just say, we were left stunned by the outcome.
It was a phenomenally close call as all the athletes crossed the finish line with just approximately a tenth of a second between them.
Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson said it was "absolutely" the best 100m final he has ever seen "bar none" as per the BBC.
"The final lived up to the hype. Going through the rounds it looked like a foregone conclusion that Kishane Thompson would win as he was the one who came in as the fastest man in the world," Johnson said on BBC TV.
"We had this amazing race where you could throw a blanket over the finishing line,” he added. “We didn't even know who won for a few minutes."
Just to put into perspective how close it was, even Oblique Seville, who came last place, would have secured a fourth-place position at the Tokyo Games.
But the man who just about clinched that gold medal was the new fan favorite, Noah Lyles, who was representing Team USA.
After the match, the gold medal winner opened up about what he said to Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, who came in second place just by the slightest of margins.
"It's the one I wanted," he said after the race.
"It's the hard battle, it's the amazing opponents. Everybody is healthy, everybody came prepared for the fight and I wanted to prove I'm the man amongst all of them. I'm the wolf amongst wolves,” he continued before revealing that he initially thought his opponent took the victory.
"I will be honest, I went up to Kishane and said 'I will be honest bro I think you had that one.' I was fully prepared to see his name pop up, and to see my name pop up I'm like 'goodness gracious, I'm incredible,’” he stated.
Ever so humble, but we stan the confidence.
"I'm going to be honest, I wasn't ready to see it and that's the first time I've ever said that. I wasn't ready to see it,” he added.
On social media, people couldn’t help but talk about the moment.
“This is NUTS. What a finish. Noah Lyles teaching young sprinters everywhere that yes, talent and hard work are obviously important, but in the end: never ever ever forget the value of TECHNIQUE,” wrote one user, while another added: The fact that Noah Lyles won this race is insane.. five one thousandths of a second!!!”
A third also hinted to Lyles' next venture writing: “Huge accomplishment for Noah Lyles winning Gold for team USA in the 100m men’s final! Noah is a 200m runner traditionally and he just won in the 100m. In the Netflix docuseries Sprint, Noah joked with his mom and said ‘the 200 is my wife and the 100 is my mistress.’ Can’t wait to watch him in the 200 next!”
Lyles took the gold coming in hot at 9.79, while Thompson took the silver with 9.789, and in third place came another member of Team USA, Fred Kerley with 9.81.
Congratulations to all the winners of the race!
