Watch: Oblique Seville stuns Noah Lyles at the Racers Grand Prix 2024 clocking 9.82s in the 100m

Jamaican Oblique Seville has singled himself out as a threat at the fast-approaching Paris Olympics. Running at the Racers Grand Prix, the 23-year-old clocked a 100m world lead of 9.82s to beat Noah Lyles for the gold.

For Seville, this marks his 100m season debut. The 23-year-old had opened his year in February, running at the Camperdown Classics in Kingston where he placed first in the 400m. Next, he headed to Velocity Fest 14, running the 200m. There he clocked a new personal best of 20.17 to take the win in Final 3 ahead of Roshawn Clarke and Shamar Horatio.

Coming into the Racers Grand Prix, Oblique Seville was expected to fight for his win, with the likes of 100m and 200m world champion Noah Lyles and four-time European Champion Zharnel Hughes in the mix.

However, the Jamaican youngster stunned everyone when he crossed the finish line in a 9.82, narrowly escaping Lyles who clocked a 9.85. Seville’s time is good for a new personal best, meet record and world lead.

Watch a video of this exciting men's 100m battle below:

Speaking on his win after the race, Seville stated that he was surprised at the time he clocked, given that he had to take it easy in training for a while due to a minor injury.

"I feel good. I'm a little surprised. It's special to be able to run so fast without too much specific work. It shows that I can still do better,” he said.

Oblique Seville pegged as Olympic medal hopeful by Usain Bolt

With this 9.82 performance at the Racers Grand Prix, Oblique Seville has solidified himself as a threat for the Paris Olympics, and fans aren't the only ones who think so.

Jamaican sprinting legend, 100m and 200m world record holder, and eight-time Olympic gold-medalist Usain Bolt thinks the youngster has the potential to make it to the podium come time.

Seville has already made it to the finals of the 100m at both the Olympic Games and the World Championships, narrowly missing out on a piece of metal, finishing fourth. However, Bolt has a feeling that this could be changing in Paris.

Speaking at the launch of Red Stripe’s ‘Guh Fi Gold and Glory’ campaign in May, Bolt told journalists that he was counting on Oblique Seville to keep Jamaica’s sprinting hopes alive,

“I think over the past years, it (Jamaica’s male sprinting) has been struggling, but I do think that Oblique has been keeping it alive. He has made all the finals so far; it is just for him to now get in the top three. And I think it's just consistency. I think the one thing with Oblique is that he always gets injured, but hopefully he can be consistent this season and stay on the right path and he'll be fine,” Bolt said.

He added that he wasn't impressed with anything global 100m sprinters had clocked this year, calling the field wide open.

“Let's see what happens. I think it's early. No one is doing anything, and I haven't seen anything impressive so far. So, I think it is still wide open. I am really hoping Oblique can break into the top three this time around. I think he has always worked hard over the years, and he is always in the final and always doing well. So hopefully, he will break into the top three.”

The Jamaican Olympic track and field trials are scheduled between June 27 and 30. Oblique Seville has a chance to make it to his second consecutive Games this summer, having missed out on a podium in Tokyo.