Summer Olympics

Noah Lyles talked the talk leading up to the men's 100m final at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. And then he walked the walk.

Well, more accurately, he ran very, very fast and won the gold medal by probably the narrowest margin you'll ever see in the event.

Nyles posted a personal best of 9.79, besting Kishane Thompson by 0.005 seconds. It doesn't get much closer than that.

"America, I told you," Lyles yelled into the camera after the results were made official.

American Fred Kerley took bronze, posting a time of 9.81 seconds. Marcell Jacobs, who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games, placed fifth.

Sunday's race was incredibly tight, to the point that it was unclear who won at all. But once Lyles was crowned, social media was whipped into a frenzy:

He even won over the NBA crowd, who took umbrage with Lyles claiming that the NBA champions shouldn't be deemed "world champions" in their sport since the NBA is a United States league.

Lyles, who got off to a slow start in Sunday's final and didn't even finish first in his opening heat on Saturday, admitted that he underestimated the field heading into the event.

"These boys said they ain't coming to play," he told reporters. "And I guess that's my first lesson in underestimating the power of an Olympics. When somebody's on the line, they say they're going to give it their all or nothing. The plan was first. But it didn't happen. Second is fine. We'll make sure from here on out it's first."

He also finished second in his semifinals run on Sunday, leading to some doubt as to whether gold was in his future. But Lyles had his best race when it mattered most, rightfully claiming the title of Fastest Man Alive.

Noah Lyles won the first United States men's Summer Olympics gold in the 100 meters in 20 years on Sunday.

Lyles used a lunge from one of the outside lanes to beat Jamaica's Kishane Thompson and fellow American Fred Kerley in a photo finish.

Lyles and Thompson both finished in 9.79 seconds, but it was the American who won out by inches at the end.

Results

1. Noah Lyles (United States) - 9.79 seconds

2. Kishane Thompson (Jamaica) - 9.79

3. Fred Kerley (United States) - 9.81

4. Akani Simbine (South Africa) - 9.82

5. Marcell Jacobs (Italy) - 9.85

6. Lestile Tebogo (Botswana) - 9.86

7. Kenneth Bednarek (United States) - 9.88

8. Oblique Seville (Jamaica) - 9.91

Lyles won the 100 meters with a remarkable finish.

The American sprinter did not have the best start in the eight-man field, but he made up for that by pushing to the end to take down Thompson.

Thompson initially thought he was the winner at the line because he was only focused on Kerley in the lane directly to the left of him.

After the review of the photo finish, Lyles was ruled to have beat Thompson from an outside lane by inches.

Lyles became the first American man to win the 100 meters since Justin Gatlin won the event at the 2004 Athens Games.

Kerley, who won the silver in Tokyo behind Italy's Marcell Jacobs, took bronze with a time just two-hundredths of a second off the time set by Lyles and Thompson.

Lyles and Kerley became the first pair of American men to medal in the 100 meters since Gatlin's win in 2004 when he shared the podium with bronze medalist Maurice Greene.

Lyles will now put all of his focus on the sprint double. He is expected to compete in the 200 meters final on Thursday.

The men's 100-meter final is shaping up to be action-packed.

Sunday's semifinal just fanned the flame as United States star Noah Lyles stared down Jamaica's Oblique Seville as the two crossed the finish line. While the semifinal wasn't decisive in terms of medals, Seville beat Lyles by just 0.02 of a second.

The 100-meter final, which will include Lyles and Seville, when begin at 3:50 p.m. ET on Sunday.

While Lyles couldn't best Seville in their semifinal meeting, the title for the world's fastest man is still wide open heading into Sunday's final. Lyles posted the best time in the 100-meter earlier this year, and he'll look to do it again on his way to a potential gold medal.

But alongside Lyles will be his American teammates. Both Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek advanced to the final, with Kerley earning an automatic qualifier like Lyles and Bednarek qualified on time.

Along with Seville, Jamaica will be represented by Kishane Thompson, who had the best time of the day with a 9.80—a 0.01 second faster than Seville.

The United States is searching for its first gold medal in the event since 2004 when Justin Gatlin won. Lyles, Kerley and Bednarek will have some stiff competition, but all three runners are more than capable of being crowned champions.

The United States' primacy in the pool is secure for another four years.

Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske combined to win gold in the women's 4x100-meter medley Sunday, the final swimming event of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

With the win, Team USA edged ahead of Australia for the most swimming golds in Paris.

2024 Summer Olympics Medal Count — Swimming

• United States: 28 medals (eight gold, 13 silver, seven bronze) 
• Australia: 18 medals (seven gold, eight silver, three bronze) 
• France: seven medals (four gold, one silver, two bronze) 
• Canada: eight medals (three gold, two silver, three bronze) 
• China: 12 medals (two gold, three silver, seven bronze) 
• Italy: five medals (two gold, one silver, two bronze) 
• Hungary: three medals (two gold, one silver) 
• Sweden: two medals (two gold)

Full medal leaderboard is available on the Olympics' official site

The United States tied Australia in the gold medal count earlier in the day thanks to Bobby Finke. The 24-year-old set a world record as he finished the men's 1,500-meter freestyle in 14:30.67.

That helped to set up the 4x100 relay as the decisive battle between the U.S. and Australia. The matchup proved to be thoroughly one-sided as the Americans finished 3.48 seconds ahead of the Aussies and set a new record (3:49.63) in the process.

Early into the Paris Games, it looked like Australia was coming for the United States' throne.

Ariarne Titmus won the women's 400-meter freestyle and watched her compatriots relegate Team USA to a silver medal in the women's 4x100-meter freestyle later that evening. Then came a stretch of three straight golds across Thursday and Friday in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle, men's 50-meter freestyle (Cameron McEvoy) and women's 200-meter backstroke (Kaylee McKeown).

In the end, though, the United States wasn't to be denied. Katie Ledecky beat Titmus in the women's 800-meter freestyle Saturday before Team USA earned a sixth swimming gold in the mixed 4x100-meter medley relay.

Ledecky became the most decorated American female Olympian ever in the process with nine golds and 14 total medals.

In terms of the 2024 Summer Olympics as a whole, the United States is on pace to blow away the competition in overall medals. Team USA has 69 so far, well ahead of China in second place with 45.

China does have one more gold than the U.S., however, so that fight might go down to the wire.

The United States won the gold-medal battle in the pool with Australia in emphatic fashion with a world record in the women's 4x100 mixed medley relay.

The quartet of Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske controlled the race from start to finish to give Team USA eight gold medals in swimming, one more than Australia.

Huske, who has been one of the stars of Team USA in Paris, capped the world-record swim in the freestyle with a 52.42-second split. That came just after Walsh swam the fastest butterfly split in history of 55.03 seconds.

Results

1. United States - 3:49.63 (world record)

2. Australia - 3:53.11

3. China - 3:53.23

4. Canada - 3:53.91

5. Japan - 3:56.17

6. France - 3:56.29

7. Sweden - 3:56.92

8. Netherlands - 3:59.52

The United States had no challengers in the final swimming race at Paris La Defense Arena.

Smith got Team USA off to a fast start with a 57.28-second split in the backstroke. King followed with a solid 1:04.90 in the breaststroke.

Walsh and Huske took home the victory in brilliant fashion across the final two legs.

Walsh delivered an amazing 55.03-second split in the butterfly and Huske hunted down the world record with a 52.42-second split in the freestyle.

The win capped a tremendous final night for Team USA in the pool. Bobby Finke won gold in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle and the men's mixed medley relay team took silver.

The women's mixed medley relay win put the Americans up to eight gold medals in swimming, one more than Australia.

Australia held the gold-medal advantage for most of the week, but Team USA surged back in the final two days to earn that crown.

Team USA also won the most overall swimming medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The United States had 28 overall medals. Eight of them were gold, 13 were silver and seven were bronze.

All of the swimming medals helped Team USA pull away in the overall medal table in which it currently has 69 total medals.

Simone Biles had a straightforward message to everyone following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris: Live in the moment.

The American gymnast vented her frustration with athletes being asked about their post-Games plans and playfully responded to one fan who raised the question:

Biles can speak from experience. Her time in France hasn't concluded, yet she has had to answer whether she might have one more Summer Games in her. Never mind what a triumph it was for the 27-year-old to simply qualify for the Paris Games, let alone collect three more gold medals.

Competing in the Olympics is the culmination of a years-long journey and nothing can be taken for granted regarding the future. Many athletes only get one shot to star on this kind of stage.

That's why it's a bit misguided to shift the conversation to what lies ahead when there's so much to savor in the present.

The United States lost the men's 4x100-meter mixed relay for the first in Olympic history on Sunday.

The Americans came up just short with a silver-medal performance to China.

China received an incredible 45.92-second split from 100-meter freestyle gold medalist Pan Zhanle to take home gold.

Caeleb Dressel and Hunter Armstrong delivered impressive splits of their own in the final two legs for the United States to take second place ahead of France.

Results

1. China - 3:27.46

2. United States - 3:28.01

3. France - 3:28.38

4. Great Britain - 3:29.60

5. Canada - 3:31.27

6. Australia - 3:31.86

7. Germany - 3:32.46

8. Netherlands - 3:32.52

China, the United States and France were in close competition for all four legs of the medley relay.

China pulled ahead on the final leg thanks to Pan's incredible sub-46-second split that blew away the rest of the competition.

Hunter Armstrong swam a 47.19-second leg to keep the United States in the silver-medal position.

The United States was in a spot to win the relay after the third leg thanks to a 49.41-second butterfly leg out of Caeleb Dressel.

Dressel had a disappointing individual Olympics, but he saved his best swim for the relay to at least give his team a chance of extending the gold-medal winning streak that dates back to 1960.

Ryan Murphy and Nic Fink swam in the backstroke and breaststroke legs for the Americans.

France used a strong breaststroke leg by four-time Paris gold medalist Leon Marchand to put itself in medal contention. Florent Manaudou used a 47.59-second freestyle split to give bronze to the host nation.

Bobby Finke delivered a massive performance in the men's 1,500-meter freestyle for the United States.

The 2020 and 2024 gold medalist in the long-distance event set the world record by leading wire to wire.

Finke's win was also important in the context of the team competition. He leveled the gold medal competition between the United States and Australia inside Paris La Defense Arena.

Results

1. Bobby Finke (United States) - 14:30.67 (world record)

2. Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy) - 14:34.55

3. Daniel Wiffen (Ireland) - 14:39.63

4. David Betlehem (Hungary) - 14:40.91

5. Kuzey Tuncelli (Turkey) - 14:41.22

6. Ahmed Jaouadi (Tunisia) - 14:43.35

7. David Aubry (France) - 14:44.66

8. Damien Joly (France): 14.52.61

Finke's gold-medal swim was surprising because of the way in which he won.

The two-time gold medalist is known for his closing speed, but on Sunday, he set the pace of the race.

Finke shed all but one of his contenders by the final two laps and then used the closing speed to race away from silver medalist Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy.

Finke's gold carried a ton of significant across the USA Swimming program. He is the only male individual gold medalist in swimming in Paris and he tied the battle between the Americans and Aussies at seven gold medals each.

If that wasn't enough he also broke the world record that had been held by China's Sun Yang since the 2012 London Olympics.

Finke is the fourth man to ever win back-to-back 1,500-meter freestyle golds and the second American to achieve that feat.

Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem pulled off the sweep in the short-distance freestyle events at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Sjoestroem took first place in the women's 50-meter freestyle ahead of Australia's Meg Harris and China's Zhang Yufei.

American Gretchen Walsh started strong, but she missed out on the bronze medal by one-hundredth of a second.

Results

1. Sarah Sjoestroem (Sweden) - 23.71 seconds

2. Meg Harris (Australia) - 23.97

3. Zhang Yufei (China) - 24.20

4. Gretchen Walsh (United States) - 24.21

5. Katarzyna Wasick (Poland) - 24.33

6. Neza Klancar (Slovenia) - 24.35

7. Wu Qingfeng (China) - 24.37

8. Shayna Jack (Australia) - 24.39

Sjoestroem completed the 50-100-meter sweep in 23.71 seconds.

The 30-year-old Swede got faster as the 50-meter race went on and ended with a winning advantage of 26-hundredths of a second.

She is now a three-time gold medalist in three different events at the Summer Olympics. She also won the 100-meter butterfly eight years ago in Rio de Janeiro.

Sjoestroem cruised past American Gretchen Walsh as part of her move up to first place.

Walsh appeared to have a strong start, but faded a bit toward the end and came one-hundredth of a second short of a medal.

Harris added to Australia's medal haul in the pool, which now stands at 17. The Aussies and Americans will go head-to-head in relays later on Sunday to determine who will emerge with the most golds in swimming.