Noah Lyles won the men's 100-meter final Sunday at the 2024 Paris Olympics, ending a 20-year drought for the Americans.
The 27-year-old Lyles finished in 9.784 seconds, edging out Jamaica's Kishane Thompson by just five-thousandths of a second to secure the gold medal. American Fred Kerley finished in 9.81 seconds to round out the top three.
Lyles is the first American to win Gold in the men's 100-meter sprint since 2004, when Justin Gatlin won in 9.850 seconds.
The United States is now tied with China for the most gold medals with 19, but the U.S. is leading the field in total Olympic medals with 71.
RELATED STORY | American golfer Scheffler keeps Olympic gold with the US after major comeback
Sunday's win was also a personal best for Lyles, who will be a favorite later this week when he races in the men's 200-meter final — his better event. Lyles will look to join Jamaican Usain Bolt as the latest sprinter to win both the 100-meter and 200-meter Olympic finals.
The men's final came a day after Julien Alfred won the women's 100-meter title in 10.72 seconds, securing the first-ever Olympic medal for her home country of Saint Lucia. It also marked the largest margin of victory in the women's 100-meter since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, when Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took home the gold for Jamaica.