Noah Lyles was quick to dedicate his Olympic gold medal to his late coach Rashawn Jackson after winning within the 100m final.
The American snatched the gold medal from Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson on Sunday night by just 0.005 seconds following a dramatic surge.
His victory means he has added to the bronze medal he picked up at Tokyo 2020 within the 200m – one other event he’ll seeking to scoop the gold in.
And in an interview following the epic race, the 27-year-old made sure to pay tribute to Jackson, who passed away earlier this summer, where he could possibly be heard letting his emotions get the higher of him.
It was Jackson who helped make Lyles the sprinter he’s today having coached him at Alexandria City High School.
Lyles penned a heartfelt social media post following his death in July, and speaking after his 100m triumph, he did not contain his emotions.
Chatting with reporters, Lyles said: “It’s an incredible moment, I do not think it’s completely sunk in to be honest.
“I even have so many homes, and Alexandria [city in Virginia] is unquestionably certainly one of them, Charltotte, North Carolina, Orlando, Florida, Clermont, Gainesville [both Florida].
“There’s so many places that I even have ties to, and my coach, Rashawn Jackson, he recently died.
“I remember once I was running on the back stretch and I used to be like, ‘This one is for you man.'”
It was at that time where Lyles could possibly be heard breaking down.
Through apparent tears, he continued: “I assumed he was going to be here to see it, I will be honest.
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Men’s 100m final – Results
- Noah Lyles (9.784 secs) (PB) – United States
- Kishane Thompson (9.789 secs) – Jamaica
- Fred Kerley (9.81 secs) (SB) – United States
- Akani Simbine (9.82 secs) (NR) – South Africa
- Marcell Jacobs (9.85 secs) (SB) – Italy
- Letsile Tebogo (9.86 secs) (NR) – Botswana
- Kenneth Bednarek (9.88 secs) – United States
- Oblique Seville (9.91 secs) – Jamaica
“But I do know that he’s watching, but I actually thought he was going to be here within the flesh.
“He believed that I used to be going to be a 100m runner just as much as I used to be going to be a 200m runner.”
Commenting on his quest to win gold medals within the 200m and 4x100m relay, he added: “Shoot, I’m on cloud nine because I just got the toughest one out of the best way.
“The 100m is by far the toughest one, to not say that I do not have competition all the best way down.
“But I feel that was the one that would have slipped away from me.”
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