Kishae Thompson, Kenny Bednarek, Fred Kerley, Noah Lyles — Kishane Thompson, Kenny Bednarek, Fred Kerley, Inset - Noah Lyles (Images: Imagn)

All athletes who finished faster than Noah Lyles in the men's 100m Round 1 at Paris Olympics 2024 ft. Kishane Thompson

Modified Aug 03, 2024 11:53 GMT

The men’s 100m, in which Noah Lyles has a personal best of 9.81s, is one of the most anticipated events at the Summer Games and it has not been any different at the 2024 Paris Olympics. All eyes heading into the event were on Marcell Jacobs, the defending champion.

If Jacobs manages to win the gold medal once again, he will go down in history as only the third man, after Carl Lewis and Usain Bolt, to win multiple Olympic gold medals in the distance.

The Italian has to fend off big challengers in the French capital, most notably USA's Lyles, Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and Kenya's African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala. All of them were placed in different heats, making Round 1 a very interesting watch for the fans. By the end of all the heats, as many as 11 athletes ran faster than Lyles, who registered a time of 10.04s and a reaction time of 0.101s.

The most notable is Thompson, who began the day in Heat 1. He threw down the early marker by clocking 10.00s with a reaction time of 0.160s. The Jamaican will be hoping to keep Lyles behind him for the rest of their races in Paris.

Of the 11 athletes who were faster than Noah Lyles, four finished under the 10s mark

Noah Lyles at the Wanda Diamond League in London - Getty Images

As many as four athletes ran their heats under the 10s mark. Louie Hinchliffe found himself in Heat 3, alongside Noah Lyles, and was the first to do so. The Brit clocked 9.98s with a reaction time of 0.1466s.

Oblique Seville (heat 4) finished with a time of 9.99s while Kenneth Bednarek and Emmanuel Eseme (both Heat 7) had a photo finish at the end, with times of 9.97s and 9.98s, respectively. American Fred Kerley in Heat 8 was the final sprinter that finished under the 10s mark, clocking 9.97s with a 0.150s reaction time.

The other athletes who did better than Lyles are Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (10.02s in Heat 4), Kayinsola Ajayi (10.02s in Heat 5), Akani Simbine (10.03s in Heat 6), Letsile Tebogo (10.01s in Heat 8) and Zharnel Hughes (10.03s in Heat 8).

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