"Nerve Racking "- Kishane Thompson opens up on making his debut at the Paris Olympics and going head to head against Noah Lyles

Kishane Thompson revealed that he had a nerve-racking feeling going into his first major international competition, the Paris Olympics. Thompson was only five-thousandths of a second slower than the gold winner Noah Lyles.

Thompson, a member of the MVP Track Club, made his Games debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics, lining up alongside top athletes, Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, and defending champion Marcell Jacobs, among others in the 100m.

Netflix documented the Jamaican's journey from the build-up to the 100m finals in the French capital for the second season of Sprint. In episode 3 of the docuseries, he was seen sweating it out on the track during practice and expressing his feelings about heading into the first Olympics of his career.

"I will shock this world. My biggest rival is Noah Lyles, he is the world champion. I won't be intimated. Eh, that hypes me up. It's 'All right. Let's do this,'" the 23-year-old noted while exuding confidence. (4:50)

He added:

"The Olympics, it will be my first major international. Very nerve-wracking feeling. But a nerve-racking and exciting feeling, knowing that something special is going to happen, and it's just a piece of what to come."

Kishane Thompson further noted how people started believing in him as Jamaica's hope for gold after his stellar track performances.

"When I came on the scene, and I did a small glimmer of what I'm capable of, they said, 'All right. About time he came into the fire.'"

Thompson clocked 9.82s in the 100m opening round at the Jamaican Olympic trials and followed it up with 9.77s in the finals, winning the Jamaican National title and securing a spot in the Olympics.

In the Paris finals, he stopped the clock at 9.79s, the same as Noah Lyles, but was 0.005s slower than the latter. As a result, he walked home with the 100m silver.

Kishane Thompson talked about his takeaways from the Paris Olympics 2024

Kishane Thompson on the silver podium at the Olympic Games Paris 2024: (Source: Getty)

After debuting on the global stage in Paris, Thompson pointed out the areas that needed improvement for his future runs. The Jamaican shed light on his learnings from the Games after racing alongside Olympic and world champions in the 100m.

"The first thing I've learned after going through something like this is I have to be more patient with myself. The second thing is I need to understand that the last part of the race is the most complicated, and the third is when it's such a close final, I have to big up myself even more," he said. (via Relevo)

Kishane Thompson debuted in the Diamond League in Monaco in 2023, finishing fifth in 10.04s. He improved his time at the Xiamen Diamond League, finishing second in 9.85s.