Noah Lyles, the triple world champion, has revealed that his decisive lean at the finish line of the Paris Olympic Games 100m final may have actually cost him a faster time. Despite securing victory by a mere five-thousandths of a second, Lyles believes he could have clocked a significantly quicker time had he not leaned.
Lyles, who won the race in 9.79 seconds, narrowly edging out Kishane Thompson (9.79) and Fred Kerley (9.81), explained on the Toure Show that recent research has shown him the error of his ways. “I was watching data recently and if I didn’t lean, I would have run a lot faster in that 100m,” Lyles stated.
He elaborated on the mechanics of leaning, explaining that it requires a deceleration of momentum.
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“You tend to lose the energy because you’re now preparing your body to slow down because you have to throw your body out in front of you so you don’t fall, you have to prepare your arm swing,” he said.
“If I had run to the line with the same momentum that I had or even a faster momentum, I would have run faster and while they leaned, I would have been speeding.”
Lyles emphasized his focus during major competitions, stating that he tries to eliminate distractions and concentrate solely on execution. “If I’m thinking about something, there’s something wrong because I’m taking energy away from the activity that I’m doing in the present and I’m just going and going and I might think, ‘Go faster.’,” he explained.
He described a crucial moment in the race where he had to surge forward. “Somebody was getting a little too far ahead of me and I said, ‘Now like I have to move now and if I don’t move now, then I’m going to be out of this completely.’ It was about the 30m or the 25m mark and my body did what I told it to do.”
Lyles also detailed his tunnel vision during the race, focusing on his own performance and minimizing distractions. “I could probably see two lanes but all my biggest hitters, Fred and Kishane were three to four lanes over so I could not turn my head cause that’s wasted energy.”
Reflecting on the race, Lyles expressed confidence that with his current knowledge, he could have delivered an even more memorable performance. “If he could have been taken back to the Paris Olympic Games with the information he has right now, Noah Lyles is confident that he would have made the men’s 100m final more memorable and probably historical than the 2008 Olympic Games final.”
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