SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles is the fastest man in the world.
The U.S. sprinter won the 100 at the Paris Olympics. Lyles crossed the finish line with a gold-medal winning time of 9.79 in a photo finish to win track and field’s marquee sprint event.
Kishane Thompson ran a 9.79 to finish second and Fred Kerley came in third, posting a time of 9.81 to get bronze.
The runners had to wait for photo review moments after the race and didn’t know who won seconds after the race.
But the moment belonged to Lyles inside a packed house at Stade de France. Lyles is the first American sprinter to win an Olympic gold medal in the men’s 100 since Justin Gatlin won gold at the 2004 Athens Games.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Lyles came into the Olympics confident. He ran a personal-best 9.81 at last month. He told USA TODAY Sports that he wanted to win multiple Olympic gold medals. He’s well on his way to achieving his goal.
The 100 victory earned Lyles his first ever Olympic gold medal. He received a bronze in the 200 at the Tokyo Olympics. He’s also a sixth-time world champion gold medalist, but Sunday’s Olympic gold medal in the 100 might be the crowning achievement of his career thus far.
➤ Get Olympics updates in your texts! Join USA TODAY Sports’ WhatsApp Channel
➤ The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
SAINT-DENIS, France – Team USA women’s high jumper Vashti Cunningham missed out on a medal for the third consecutive Olympics Sunday. Still, despite a troubling back injury this season, she recorded her highest Olympic finish ever (fifth place). The daughter of former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham cleared the bar at 1.86, 1.91 and 1.95 meters, but failed on three attempts to clear 1.98 to fall out of medal contention.
The gold medal went to Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who cleared 2.0 meters in fewer attempts than silver medalist Nicola Olyslagers of Australia. Ukrainian Iryna Gerashchenko and Australia’s Eleanor Patterson tied for the bronze.
Cunningham narrowly qualified for the Paris Olympics, but entered ranked No. 7 in the world. She recorded finishes of 13th at the Rio Games in 2016 and sixth at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“I felt good about my performance. I was happy when I made the bar and when I missed the bar, I knew what I was doing wrong,” Cunningham said. “I just need to go back to the drawing board and work on a few things.”
Asked if she’s committed to making a run at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, Cunningham said, “Absolutely. I’m only going to be 30 years old, guys.”
There is no rain in the forecast for the men’s 100 final. It’s expected to be slightly cloudy and 71 degrees at the start of the race. The women’s sprinters in Saturday’s 100 final had to deal with rainy conditions. 
Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek all advanced to the 100 showdown Sunday night. Lyles and Kerley placed second in their respective heats. Bednarek qualified on time.
Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson (9.80) and Oblique Seville (9.81) have the top times entering the final.
Lyles (9.83) has the third fastest time. 
Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson won his third and final heat at 9.80 in what was a quick semifinal. Fred Kerley placed second at 9.84 to get the second automatic qualifying spot.
SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles is going to have to make some adjustments ahead of the 100 final.
Lyles placed second his first semifinal heat, running a 9.83. Jamaica’s Oblique Seville won the heat and looked at Lyles as he crossed the finish line in a personal-best time of 9.81.
Lyles lost to Great Britain’s Louie Hinchliffe in the opening round. But all that matters is he qualified for Sunday’s final.
The top two from each heat plus the next two fastest times advance to the final. 
Noah Lyles is slated to run the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay.
SAINT-DENIS, France — All three Team USA runners advanced in the men’s 400.
Christopher Bailey took second in the first heat of the men’s 400 to move on to the semifinal. Heat No. 1 also featured Great Britian’s Matthew Hudson-Smith who has the fastest time in the world this year (43.74). Hudson-Smith won the first heat timing at 44.78.
Michael Norman ran a fast 44.10 to win the second heat.
Quincy Hall, the U.S. Olympic track and field trials gold medalist, sped by Australia’s Reece Holder down the home stretch and crossed the line with a first-place time of 44.28 in the fourth heat.
The top three in each heat automatically advanced to Tuesday’s semifinal round. Norman qualified to the semifinal with the fastest time. 
The semifinal in the 100 is at 2:05 p.m. ET. Lyles is in the first heat and will run in lane No. 4.
The 100 final begins at 3:50 p.m. ET.
There are multiple podium contenders in the 100.
Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson is the fastest man in the world this year with a world-leading time of 9.77. Thompson eased up in the opening round in Paris and still ran a 10.00 to finish first in his heat. Thompson’s Jamaican teammate, Oblique Seville, has defeated Lyles before and can make the podium.
Lyles’ American teammates, Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley, are threats to reach the podium. Bednarek and Kerley both ran 9.97 to advance to the semis.
The defending Olympic champ, Marcell Jacobs of Italy, can’t be counted out, either.
The world record in the 100 is 9.58 set by Jamaica’s Usain Bolt in 2009.
Usain Bolt ran 9.63 to win a gold medal and set the Olympic record at the 2012 London Games.
Justin Gatlin was the last American male to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100. Gatlin won gold at the 2004 Athens Games. Team USA’s best medal in the 100 since then has been silver medals won at the 2016 Olympics (Gatlin) and 2020 Games (Fred Kerley).
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.