Noah Lyles has arrived. He came out with all the confidence and swagger of a gold medalist, and after a somewhat shaky set of qualification races, got himself to the final. Once there, he knew he could take home a gold, the first in his Olympic career.
It wouldn't be easy, though, it took a personal record for Lyles. The field was stacked with speedy competitors. The race lived up to the hype and the lengthy pre-race theatrics that appeared to bother some of the athletes. In the end, we got a photo finish.
Another photo came out after the race, shared by the World Athletics social media, that tells an awesome story.
Just look how awesome this eight-frame edit is:
8 frames, 1 iconic 100m final 🖼️#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/0Q6ItW3e4j
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 4, 2024
It's eight frames of the race, from the start to the finish, and it shows just how close the race was. Every glance down the various lanes tells a different story. Each horizontal look at the eight race stages it captures tells another. The most obvious story, of course, is Lyles, who came from behind after the worst reaction-time start in the race.
The best and worst were separated by 0.12 seconds, and Lyles and the silver medalist, Kishane Thompson, were separated by .005 seconds.
Lyles was in last place at the 40 meter mark, and just seventh by the time the race got to the halfway point. He jumped up to third by the 60-meter mark and second at the 90-meter mark. He did not lead until the 100th meter, the end of the race. Lyles is in lane seven in the image, and you can see him fighting back to ultimately secure the gold.
Just an epic piece of art.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stunning Multi-Frame Overlay Captures Epic 100m Final.
