"You knew Kishane Thompson had something left in the tank, and you still showed up" - Justin Gatlin hails Noah Lyles as clutch sprinter of 2024

Retired American sprinter Justin Gatlin recently hailed Noah Lyles for his clutch performance in the men’s 100m at the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the nail-biting 100m contest, Lyles pulled off a stunning victory by narrowly edging out 2024 season world leader Kishane Thompson at the quadrennial games.

In the finals of the 100m, both Lyles and Thompson displayed their brilliance, recording the same time of 9.79s. Despite Thompson’s shoes crossing the finish line first, Lyles’ torso reached the edge of the line first, which led to him being announced as the winner. According to the rule, the athlete whose torso reaches first wins the race. Lyles clocked a sensational 9.784s to win the anticipated race, while Thompson secured the silver with a time of 9.789s.

Recently, on the latest episode of the ‘Ready Set Go’ podcast, Justin Gatlin discussed with Rodney Green who he considered as the clutch performer of the season. The former Olympic 100m champion said (45:57 onwards):

“On the clutch aspect, Noah was not favored for the 100m and he stepped up to the plate and challenged everybody in the world and went out there and won the 100 meters.”

He added:

“Very clutch, it's a very hard race to win especially with under those pressures where a lot of people are doubting you and even on paper you were not the fastest on paper you know what I mean like that has to play effect in your mind your psyche and your preparation that you were not the fastest on paper and when you watched the fastest person on paper run the fastest time of a 9.77 and slowing down well before the finish line.

“You knew [Kishane Thompson] he had something left in the tank and you still showed up to the line and gave it to your all, and you all got the job done bro. That's very clutch for me. A 100 percent.”

Notably, Thompson recorded the season's fastest time of 9.77s at the 2024 Jamaican Championships. However, it looked like the 23-year-old had more to offer as he slowed down towards the end of the race.

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A look at Noah Lyles’ remarkable 2024 season

Noah Lyles (Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images)

Noah Lyles kicked off his 2024 season with his eyes on the shortest sprint title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. In a bid to qualify for the World Indoors in Glasgow, he ran a personal best time of 6.43s at the USA Indoor Championships in the final.

However, Lyles (6.44s) was narrowly defeated by compatriot Christian Coleman who bagged his second consecutive title at the World Indoor Championships with a time of 6.41s in the final. The 27-year-old then earned his second silver in the competition, being a member of the USA men’s 4x400m relay team.

In the 100m, Noah Lyles won the Tom Jones Memorial, Bermuda Grand Prix, US Olympic Trials, and London Diamond League before becoming the Olympic champion in Paris. However, Lyles had to settle for a consecutive bronze in the Olympic 200m final, an event where he was favored to win, after testing positive for COVID-19. He concluded his 2024 campaign at the Summer Games.