PARIS, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- After winning Olympic men's 100m title on Sunday, American sprinter Noah Lyles said he had learned a lot from his disappointing performance at Tokyo 2020.
Lyles, who won a 100m, 200m and 4x100m treble at the 2023 worlds, was dealt a blow three years ago when he just finished third in men's 200m in Tokyo.
"From then on, I was like, 'I'm never going to do that again. I'm going to handle this correctly and practice over the years'. It's accumulated to this point. You only need one. As long as that's the last one, that's all that matters," he said.
The gold made Lyles the first American, male or female, to win the event since Justin Gatlin claimed the gold in 2004, while luckless Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, who had appeared slightly ahead of Lyles at the race's halfway point, took silver with 0.005 seconds behind.
"It's been a rollercoaster, ups and downs. I'm usually a guy who likes to come out blazing in all my rounds, especially in the 200m. But the 100m, it's my first time here on the Olympic stage," Lyles noted.
Thompson said he was super grateful and he came out here and finished injury free, "I think you guys know my past issues with injuries, so I am a bit disappointed. But I am happy at the same time. I am going to take it as what it is and move forward from here."
"I wasn't patient enough with myself to let my speed bring me at the line, in the position that I know I could have gone to, but I have learnt from it," Thompson added. ■
