How one athlete’s body part sparked huge controversy over Olympic win

Noah Lyles edged out his opponents in Paris to claim the gold medal in an exhilarating Men’s 100m Olympic final—but the first prize call has proved pretty controversial.

Last Sunday (4 August), Team USA star Lyles, 27 beat out 23-year-old Jamaican Kishane Thompson and teammate Fred Kerley, 29, in the coveted 100m sprint.

However, the gold medalist’s race didn’t start with a bang as he tied with Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, 21, for the slowest reaction time of anyone in the field (0.178 seconds).

Kerley may have come out the gates quickest (0.108s), but it was Olympic debutant Thompson (0.176s) who led for the majority of the 2024 100m sprint final.

As the eight-track and field stars crossed the line in quick succession, officials called for a dramatic photo finish to determine the winner.

It was quickly announced that Lyles had reigned supreme after running the Men’s 100m Olympic final with a time of 9.784 seconds.

Noah Lyles won gold in the Men's 100m sprint. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Thompson was awarded a silver medal after clocking a time of 9.789, while Kerley brought home the bronze with a 9.81-second finish.

Lyles finished five-thousandths of a second ahead of Thompson and it turns out one particular body part being over the finish line had sealed him the win.

But which part was it and why is it so controversial?

What body part did Lyles put over the finish line first?

Official Olympic rules and regulations state the clock stops on a sprint when an athlete’s torso reaches the closest edge of the finish line.

“The first athlete whose torso (as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the closest edge of the finish line is the winner,” the stipulation reads.

So it doesn’t matter that Thompson and Kerley had their feet on the line first because Lyles’ leaning chest sealed his victory.

What did social media say about the Men’s 100m final?

Naturally, Lyles’ winning the gold medal by putting his torso over the line first has caused a stir on social media.

Olympic viewers have been flocking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to have their say on the matter.

One claimed that Lyles's body position came from ‘experience’ and that Thompson would ‘learn’ from the loss and ‘be better next time’.

While a second user typed: “Wild photo finish in the men's 100 meter! Noah Lyles' win was so close that if you don't know it's the first torso to reach the finish line (not the first foot), you might not think he'd won.”

“Robbed of a potential gold medal. Kishane Thompson didn't deserve this,” said someone else.

“Jamaica were robbed, we want JUSTICE,” said a fourth.

“This whole Noah Lyles stuffs remind me of my class race where my guy who came in second didn’t believe he was second cause he stretched his legs across the finish line cause he thought that mattered more,” commented another.

"He couldn’t believe the torso mattered more lol."

Lyles' torso was first across the finish line. (Rodolfo Buhrer/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

What did Lyles say about his 100m sprint win?

Following the successful fixture, Lyles admitted he believed Thompson had initially cruised to gold.

"I did think [Thompson] had it at the end,” he began. “I went up to him while we were waiting, and said 'I think you’ve got that, good going', and then my name popped up and I'm like 'oh my gosh, I'm amazing.

"I'm going to be honest, I wasn't ready to see it and that's the first time I've ever said that,” he continued, as per Sky Sports.

“I wasn't ready to see it.”

The 2024 Men’s 100m sprint final is Lyles's first gold Olympic medal, having picked up a bronze in the 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Will Lyles compete in any more 2024 Paris Olympic events?

Yesterday (6 August), Lyles placed first in his Men’s 200m heat and is due to compete in the semi-finals of the dash on Wednesday (7 August).

If he makes it through, then he will partake in the Men’s 200 meter final the following day.

Prior to the 200-meter finals, Lyles is due to compete in the first round of the 4x100-meter relay for Team USA.