SAINT-DENIS, France – The men’s 100-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics was a race to remember, and a San Antonio native was in the middle of the drama.
Fred Kerley’s time of 9.81 seconds was a season-best, but it was only good enough to earn a bronze medal for Team USA on Sunday in Saint-Denis, France.
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Kerley qualified for Sunday’s final run with a time of 9.84 seconds in a semifinal heat earlier in the day.
In the final, Kerley checked in just a touch behind the race’s top two finishers: fellow American Noah Lyles and Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson.
Thompson entered the race as a likely favorite in a competitive field. He qualified for the 100-meter final with a 9.80-second tally in a semifinal heat earlier Sunday.
After the race began, most attention was paid to Kerley in lane No. 3 and Thompson in lane No. 4, who were running in lockstep with each other in the front of the pack. But Lyles made a fiery late charge in lane No. 7.
As the top three runners crossed the finish line, NBC Olympics broadcaster Leigh Diffey announced Thompson as the winner of the gold medal. The gold medal would have been Team Jamaica’s first gold in the 100-meter dash in an Olympics or World Championships since legendary sprinter Usain Bolt retired from the track in 2017.
However, upon further review after the conclusion of the race, the replay and officials determined Lyles’ torso crossed the finish line before Thompson’s did. According to the track rules, the torso that crosses the line first is declared the winner.
Lyles was determined the winner of the gold medal with a time of 9.784 seconds. Thompson, who earned the silver medal, finished with a time of 9.789 seconds.
Lyles, the new “Fastest Man in the World,” became the first American runner to win the 100-meter final since Justin Gatlin did the same at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Meanwhile, Kerley earned his second all-time individual medal in the 100-meter final. He also earned a silver medal in the 100-meter final at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
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