Twelve months ago at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Noah Lyles stood centre stage, head tilted toward the big screen in Stade de France, waiting. For most of the men’s 100m final, Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson looked like the probable winner.
But in a race decided by inches and instinct, Lyles’ well-timed dip saw him edge his rival in the most historic and most dramatic Olympic 100m final in history by five thousandths of a second, with both athletes initially inseparable at 9.78s.
“Goodness gracious, I’m incredible,” Lyles exclaimed, as the result flashed on screen, setting off a roar in front of 80,000 fans and triggering headlines around the world. The sport had its new king. And Lyles, already a showman, already a star, seemed ready for more.
“I hope you guys like Noah,” he said that night, “because I’ve got a lot more coming.”
But what came next was a test even the 28-year old hadn’t anticipated.
Just days after the 100m triumph, on the eve of his beloved 200m, a distance where he was virtually untouchable, Lyles tested positive for Covid.
“All I could think was: I still got this,” he later recalled. “We can still get the job done.”
He did get the job done, just barely. Bronze in the 200m wasn’t the fairy tale ending he had envisioned, but after running with illness and collapsing post-race into a wheelchair, it became the most meaningful medal of his life.
“This may be my favourite,” he would say. “I’ve never been in such a hard battle.”
In that race, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took the gold, a first for his country, and Lyles’ countryman Kenny Bednarek got the silver.
You can relive Lyles’ amazing journey at Paris 2024 in the new Olympic Channel Original Personal Best: Paris 2024 (see below).