Paris Olympics 2024: Why the lads’s 100-meter remaining is actually vast open

One of the marquee occasions of each Summer Olympics is the lads’s 100-meter sprint. In addition to the gold medal, the winner can be topped the unofficial however famously coveted “World’s Fastest Man.” The likes of Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Maurice Greene, and Usain Bolt have all etched their names as the best sprinters in observe and subject historical past.

When the 2024 remaining occurs on Aug. 4 in Paris, will probably be the second Olympics and sixth main international championship since Bolt’s final gold medal run. The incomparable and almost indomitable Jamaican left little doubt via his near-decade of record-setting dominance that he was one of the best within the enterprise.

In the eight years since Bolt’s Olympic farewell, the “World’s Fastest Man” distinction has been handed round like a scorching potato. There have been no repeat winners over the earlier 4 World Championships and the Tokyo Games, and the look forward to the subsequent preeminent sprinting pressure continues.

The man who may repeat and be the “Bolt successor” is the flamboyant, entertaining American phenom Noah Lyles. As the three-time world champion at 200 meters and third-fastest of all-time, he’s only now showcasing his talents at 100. Lyles enters the Olympics because the reigning 100 and 200m world and US champion, and whereas he’s extensively favored to win gold in his signature occasion (which he’s not misplaced in three years), it’s removed from a lock he’ll do the identical within the 100.

This is just not a knock on Lyles; it’s a testomony to the unbelievable international high quality within the sprints. The ground is increased—the Olympic qualifying normal is strictly 10 seconds—and the hole between elite sprinters is small. It took a private greatest 9.83 and his trademark robust shut for Lyles to win his first 100m gold, and he may need to go even faster in Paris due to the caliber of opposition he’ll quickly be going through.

With that in thoughts, let’s have a look past Lyles and preview who else within the subject is in rivalry.

The subsequent nice Jamaicans: Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson

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Why sure, the USA vs. Jamaica rivalry is just not going away any time quickly. No Jamaican man has received a Worlds or Olympic 100m medal post-Bolt, however that drought has a robust probability to finish this 12 months. The 23-year-old Oblique Seville completed 4th in every of the final two World Championships, and final month in Jamaica he ran a personal best 9.82 to defeat Noah Lyles. Coached by Glen Mills, the identical man who coached Bolt, Seville is certainly one of Jamaica’s brightest younger abilities.

And but, one other 23-year-old countryman has grabbed headlines as a critical gold medal contender.

Kishane Thompson, who had a few spectacular Diamond League races towards the tip of 2023, raised eyebrows at Jamaica’s Olympic trials by beating Seville together with his blistering 9.77, making him the primary Jamaican to dip beneath 9.8 since Bolt’s dramatic world title win over Justin Gatlin in 2015. It was Thompson’s 9.82 within the first spherical of qualifying that resulted in a night with doping control officers after he hadn’t raced all season.

When Noah Lyles was notified of Thompson’s efficiency, he coolly replied, “Alright good. Let’s hope he stays wholesome.” Thompson has had damage points up to now, however he’s wholesome now and looking out phenomenal.

At a meet in Hungary in early July, Thompson conquered a high quality subject and made 9.91 look effortless, easing up earlier than the end line.

Thompson nonetheless has so much to show in his first international championship, however his Jamaican trials efficiency makes him a significant risk to Lyles and the remainder of the sector.

The different man becoming a member of Thompson and Seville on Team Jamaica is 22-year-old Ackeem Blake. At his greatest, he’s a 9.89 runner, however his inconsistent outings make him an outsider till confirmed in any other case.

The former world champion: Fred Kerley (USA)

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There’s not a extra versatile sprinter on this subject than the 2022 world champion. At 6’3 and north of 200 lbs, Kerley is a powerfully constructed athlete who’s certainly one of solely three males ever to go beneath 44 seconds at 400, 20 seconds within the 200, and 10 seconds within the 100. His private better of 9.76 makes him joint sixth-fastest all-time, and he was the silver medalist within the final Olympics.

After surprisingly bowing out within the semifinals of final 12 months’s Worlds, Kerley didn’t have a convincing begin to his 2024 season. In truth, his final look earlier than the Olympic trials ended with him not racing and cutting ties with Asics. And but, when it was time for trials, the Texan silenced his doubters by snagging the third and remaining spot for Team USA, leaving 2019 world champion Christian Coleman off the workforce.

Competitive racing is all about peaking on the proper time, and if Kerley is reaching his greatest kind now, there’s each cause to imagine he can improve his Tokyo silver into Paris gold.

The reigning Olympic champion: Marcell Jacobs (Italy)

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Remember him? You most likely don’t. At the beginning of 2021, American-born Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs had zero sub-10-second races to his identify. By the tip of the 12 months, he shocked the world after rattling off three private bests from qualifying via the Olympic remaining.

Jacobs has not been capable of recapture that very same kind at a world degree, with a persistent sciatic nerve subject among the many causes his race schedule was restricted and his performances suffered. He didn’t attain the 2022 or 2023 World Championship finals, and hasn’t raced beneath 9.9 seconds (an almost sure requirement to win gold in Paris) since his Olympic triumph.

There are indicators that Jacobs is making appreciable progress, having won the European Championship in Rome earlier than working 9.92 in a meet in Finland final month. He’ll want a bit extra to even make the ultimate, not to mention pull off the repeat, nevertheless it appears as if the lifestyle and coaching changes have him headed in the precise path.

Africa’s brightest star: Letsile Tebogo (Botswana)

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A former soccer participant, Tebogo garnered observe’s consideration together with his world under-20 file of 9.91 seconds in 2022, showboating on his way to the finish line. In the senior ranks, he earned a silver behind Lyles within the 100m and bronze within the 200m in final 12 months’s Worlds. The 21-year-old involves his first Olympics with a heavy coronary heart, having lost his mother back in May.

There isn’t any denying Tebogo’s pure expertise and potential for greatness. If he continues his upward trajectory, Tebogo may very well be the long-term rival to Noah Lyles in each the 100 and 200. We may even see the first-ever Olympic gold medalist for Botswana subsequent month.

The better of the remaining

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• Kenny Bednarek (USA). Known as ‘Kung Fu Kenny’ for his headbands and NOT as a Kendrick Lamar reference, Bednarek is an under-the-radar identify who persistently performs at a excessive degree. He’s received an Olympic and Worlds silver within the 200m, and he’s on his first 100m workforce after a personal best of 9.87 at US trials. Bednarek is extremely prone to win one other medal within the 200m, however he’s a sneaky contender in his “weaker” occasion.
• Zharnel Hughes (Great Britain). Hughes is a slight query mark after a hamstring damage saved him out of the British trials, however he was granted a medical exemption to compete in Paris. The 2023 World Championship bronze medalist boasts a British record 9.83 as a personal best, however he has a historical past of false begins, together with a disqualification within the Tokyo remaining. If wholesome (and with a correct response to the gun), he’s as formidable as anybody.
• Ferdinand Omanyala (Kenya). Kenya is synonymous with prolific middle- and long-distance success, however Omanyala has chosen a distinct path. Now in his second Olympics, Omanyala is the African file holder with a personal best of 9.77. However, his quickest instances have predominantly been in high-elevation cities, the place skinny air is as advantageous to sprinters as it’s for NFL kickers. That benefit received’t exist in Paris, so he’ll need to dig deep to make historical past for his nation and attain the rostrum.
• Akani Simbine (South Africa). Just lacking out on a medal is a bitter capsule to swallow, and in Simbine’s case, he’s downed an entire bottle. He’s had the misfortune of ending 4th or fifth 5 instances in main championships because the 2016 Olympics. With a 9.84 personal best set simply three years in the past, Simbine has been a mainstay on the elite degree, however at 30 years outdated this Olympics is perhaps certainly one of his final sensible pictures at a medal, not to mention gold.

In lieu of a very dominant 100-meter champion, this 12 months’s Olympic remaining might be extremely intriguing for its unpredictability. If you’re anticipating Bolt’s world file of 9.58 to be beneath risk, it’s not going to occur. If you’re a fan of aggressive racing the place there’s great depth however no overwhelming favourite, then try to be in for a deal with.