Noah Lyles Says ‘I Told You America I Got This!’ After Winning Olympic Gold Medal

Andrew PetersAugust 4, 2024

Mehmet Murat Onel/Anadolu via Getty Images

Noah Lyles delivered on his promise.

The track star said he could be the person who gave the United States its first gold medal in the 100-meter since 2004, and he did on Sunday.

After winning gold in a miraculous photo finish, Lyles posted some photos from the race with the caption, “I Told You America I Got This!”

Noah Lyles, OLY @LylesNoahI Told You America I Got This! #OlympicChampion pic.twitter.com/boBOZv3650

Noah Lyles, OLY @LylesNoahI have Asthma, allergies, dyslexia, ADD, anxiety, and Depression.
But I will tell you that what you have does not define what you can become.
Why Not You!

After the race, he also talked about how having the gold medal in his hands “fueled” him.

Team USA @TeamUSA🥉➡️🥇@LylesNoah | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/ZnfjVkQNLf

Lyles ran a personal-best 9.784-second time, but the race couldn’t have been much closer. He edged out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by just 0.005 seconds in a race that came down to a photo review.

NBC Olympics & Paralympics @NBCOlympicsNOAH LYLES’ OLYMPIC DREAM COMES TRUE!

100M GOLD MEDALIST. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/qR6bkXLHhE

The Olympic Games @OlympicsThis finish. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/sUITsBfywW

Lyles said that he wasn’t even aware he had won until a few moments after the race was over. He even told Thompson that he thought he had won.

“We were waiting for the names to pop up, and I’m going to be honest, I came over [to Thompson] and I was like: ‘I think you got that one, big dawg!'” Lyles said per ESPN’s Coley Harvey. “Something said I need to lean, and I was like, ‘I’m going to lean,’ because it’s that type of race.”

Thompson entered Sunday’s race with the fastest time in the world this year at 9.77 seconds, but Lyles had just enough to take gold at the Olympics. America’s Fred Kerley won bronze with a time of 9.81 seconds.

Lyles, 27, earned his first gold medal with Sunday’s win. His only previous medal came in 2021 when earned bronze in the 200-meter in Tokyo. He’ll get the chance to compete for another gold in that event next week.

Even if he can’t bring another gold medal back home from Paris, Lyles has left his mark after an outstanding performance on Sunday.