The men's 100-meter heats of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will begin on Saturday morning at the Stade de France. Noah Lyles, Kishane Thompson, Marcell Jacobs... here is a review of the contenders for a very open race.
With Usain Bolt no longer on the track, the men's 100m is still on the look for a new undisputed king. It could very well be the Americans, particularly 27-year-old Noah Lyles. At the recent Budapest World Championships, Lyles won the 100 m, 200 m and 4x100 m in a resounding hat-trick of victories. In Paris, he'll even be aiming for a quadruple with the 4x400m as a bonus.
Noah Lyles | AFP
Another US runner to watch out for is Fred Kerley, world champion in 2022 and silver medallist in the Tokyo Games, who is back in form at just the right time.
Behind these two arrows from the other side of the Atlantic, a number of men are taking on the role of challenger. There are, of course, the Jamaicans: Kishane Thompson, the new 22-year-old nugget who just clocked the best performance of the year in 9'77 in June, and 23-year-old Oblique Seville, who already beat Noah Lyles in June.
And behind them, we also find African athletes. Botswanan prodigy Letsile Tebogo, aged just 21, became the first African to medal in the 100 m at last year's World Championships in Budapest, where he took silver. He is joined by Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala, African record-holder in 9'77, who has the distinction of being licensed in France, in Miramas (Bouches-du-Rhône).
Last but not least, we'll be keeping a close eye on Italian Marcell Jacobs, the 29-year-old defending champion. After two injury-plagued seasons, he's back in form and was crowned European champion in June. To the disappointment of the home crowd, for the first time since 1932, no Frenchman has qualified for this distance this year.
Marcell Jacobs | AP
(L'Équipe)
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