Usain Bolt has finally opined the reason Kishane Thompson lost the 100m Olympic title to Noah Lyles.
Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt has weighed in on the reason behind Kishane Thompson’s agonizingly close loss to Noah Lyles in the 100m final at the Paris Olympics last August.
Thompson, training under Stephen Francis at MVP Track Club—just as Jamaican great Asafa Powell once did—delivered a remarkable performance, clocking 9.79 seconds in the final.
However, he was edged out by Lyles, who won the gold by a razor-thin margin of 0.005 seconds. The defeat came despite Thompson’s stunning 9.77-second display at the Jamaican Olympic Trials earlier in the year, which made him the fourth-fastest Jamaican in history.
Fred Kerley has explained the misstep that cost him the 100m Olympic title in Paris, believing neither Kishane Thompson nor Noah Lyles deserved to beat him, though he still considers the race one of his best.
The controversial delay before the race, where sprinters were forced to wait on the track for an extended period, has been cited by many, including Powell, as a possible factor that affected Thompson’s rhythm. Powell expressed his concerns on Television Jamaica, stating:
“If the circumstances were different then and maybe if they did not play the music for so long… because I think when he got out there, he was ready, and then the music came and they sat back a bit.”
Powell elaborated that the extended wait drained the athletes’ energy and alertness, potentially costing Thompson the title.
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Kishane Thompson responds to his coach Stephen Francis’ blunt criticism over the major factor that cost him gold to Noah Lyles at the Paris Olympic games.
Now, Usain Bolt has echoed similar sentiments. Speaking as a guest on The Fix podcast, the eight-time Olympic champion pointed out that the prolonged pre-race wait may have heightened Thompson’s nerves, especially given his lack of experience on such a grand stage.
“I knew it was going to be a problem the moment I saw them hold Kishane and the rest of the sprinters out there for way too long,” Bolt explained.
“It was his first championship. You do not understand how hard it is. When you go out there, you are overwhelmed by those nerves, but when you have to stand out there for that long, everything will go through your mind.”
According to Bolt, the unnecessary delay may have caused self-doubt in Thompson, making it even harder for him to maintain his focus. He opined that experience played a crucial role in the race, highlighting Lyles’ composure as a decisive factor:
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The fans took to their social media handles, with some claiming that Noah Lyles was not the rightful winner of the men’s 100m final at the Paris Olympics.
“That was tough. Noah Lyles had already been built for that moment. He was ready.”
Fred Kerley, who took the bronze with a time of 9.81 seconds, also raised concerns about the impact of the prolonged wait and loud music on the athletes. Speaking about the situation, Kerley stated on Ready Set Go:
“I feel like we waited too long in Paris, but they said somebody ran on the track…I’m looking like, so my heart was just beating and beating fast and I was ready to run, and it just went away.
“My adrenaline went away, and I feel like we all could have… you could have probably seen a faster race out of everybody.”
With both past and present sprint stars pointing to the pre-race handling as a major factor, Thompson’s Olympic silver remains a bittersweet outcome—one that could have easily been a historic gold under different circumstances.
However, at just 22 years old, the young Jamaican still has time to turn his near-miss into future glory.
