Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports Olympics AM: Lyles wins in photo finish
In today's edition: Lyles wins gold, Djokovic tops Alcaraz, USA swimming keeps 120-year streak alive, the HS that won't stop producing Olympians, and more.
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Lyles wins 100m gold in photo finish
Noah Lyles ran a personal-best 9.79 to win 100-meter gold on Sunday in a thrilling photo finish, becoming the first American to earn the title of "World's Fastest Man" since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
How close was the finish? Lyles (9.784) beat Jamaica's Kishane Thompson (9.789) by 0.005 seconds (five one thousandths of a second), which is quicker than the time it takes to blink. Fellow American Fred Kerley (9.81) wasn't far behind in third.
What they're saying: The finish was so tight that even Lyles, perhaps the most confident athlete in Paris, thought he lost. Here's the boisterous Virginia sprinter after the race:
"I'ma be honest, I was shocked. I thought I got out-leaned, truly. Me and Kishane were right next to each other and I was like, 'I'ma have to swallow my pride on this one'… And I said, 'I think you had that one.' And then my name came up and I was like, 'Oh shoot, I'm incredible.'"
Head-to-head: Lyles tied for having the slowest reaction time in the field and was tied for last at the 50-meter mark — which is typically how his races go — but his incredible closing speed lifted him to victory at the very end. Here are the 10-meter splits for Lyles (🇺🇸) and Thompson (🇯🇲):
10m: 🇺🇸 1.95 | 🇯🇲 1.90
20m: 🇺🇸 2.98 | 🇯🇲 2.93
30m: 🇺🇸 3.90 | 🇯🇲 3.84
40m: 🇺🇸 4.76 | 🇯🇲 4.72
50m: 🇺🇸 5.61 | 🇯🇲 5.56
60m: 🇺🇸 6.44 | 🇯🇲 6.41
70m: 🇺🇸 7.26 | 🇯🇲 7.24
80m: 🇺🇸 8.09 | 🇯🇲 8.07
90m: 🇺🇸 8.93 | 🇯🇲 8.92
100m: 🇺🇸 9.784 | 🇯🇲 9.789
It wasn't just the podium that was close: The entire race was separated by 0.12 seconds, making it the closest 100m final since at least 1968, the first year results included hundredths of a second. South Africa's Akani Simbine lost to Lyles by 0.03 seconds — and didn't medal.
Wild stat: Jamaica's Oblique Seville finished last with a time of 9.91. That would have earned him a medal in three 100m finals this century (bronze in 2016 and 2008; silver in 2000), and would have won gold in every 100m men's final prior to 1996.
The finish, explained… I had a few people ask me why Thompson didn't win if his foot crossed the line first (as seen in this slow-mo replay). The answer: The torso is the body part that has to cross the finish line for official timing registration.
🎥 Watch: The best race analysis I've seen (via BBC)
Photos of the day
🎾 Djokovic tops Alcaraz: Serbia's Novak Djokovic defeated Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2), in a thriller at Court Philippe-Chatrier to win his first gold medal and become the oldest men's Olympic singles champion at age 37.
🇺🇸 Finke sets record, extends streak: Bobby Finke set a world record in the 1500m to win Team USA's first men's individual swimming gold medal in Paris, extending a streak that dates back to 1904 and spans 29 Olympic Games.
🚲 Faulkner makes history: Kristen Faulkner, a former rower at Harvard who only made the Olympic team as a replacement, became the first American rider in 40 years to win a road race medal — and it was gold.
🇩🇿 First for Africa: Algeria's Kaylia Nemour took gold in the uneven bars final, winning the first Olympic medal in women's gymnastics for any African country. Qiu Qiyuan of China won silver and Sunisa Lee of Team USA won bronze.
Day 9 recap: More from Sunday
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Athlete spotlight: Evy Leibfarth will try to win her second medal of these Games today in Kayak Cross, a must-see event that's making its Olympics debut.
So good, so young: Leibfarth, 20, won her first major medals as a 15-year-old at the 2019 Pan Am Games. Now, the rising senior at Davidson College is already a two-time Olympian after competing in Kayak Singles and Canoe Slalom three years ago in Tokyo.
She stunned the field last week in Canoe Slalom, winning bronze despite advancing out of the semifinals with the slowest time of the 12 finalists.
Today she'll get back in the water for the Kayak Cross quarterfinals at 9:40am ET, hoping to reach the finals a little over an hour later.
So, what is Kayak Cross? The new Olympic sport is what happens when you mix roller derby and bumper cars with a kayaking obstacle course.
Four racers begin on a 15-foot-high platform before plunging into the water to complete a no-holds-barred race to the finish.
There are eight gates to navigate, contact is very much allowed, and at one point the racers must do a full barrel roll, flipping their kayaks upside down to get under what's best described as a Limbo pole.
More athletes in action:
👟 Sam Kendricks: The 2016 pole vault bronze medalist was forced to withdraw in Tokyo after testing positive for COVID-19. After setting the U.S. trials record back in June, he'll get another shot at a medal in today's final.
🏀 Hailey Van Lith: The former Louisville and LSU star, now at TCU, is the only college player on any of Team USA's four basketball teams in Paris. Her 3x3 squad reeled off five straight wins to reach today's semifinals; one more gets them into the gold medal match.
Best of Team USA social: Suni Lee takes bronze on the uneven bars … USA on the podium for its final swimming gold … Domination in the sand
Team USA: News | Athletes | Shop
Follow along at TeamUSA.com and @TeamUSA on social media.
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Watchlist: Simone's last event
Simone Biles has already won three golds in Paris (team, individual all-around, vault). After failing to medal in beam earlier today, she'll try to win her fourth gold in floor exercise, which is probably her best event.
Featured events:
🤸 Gymnastics: Women's Floor Final (8:20am, Peacock)
👟 Track & Field: Men's Pole Vault Final (1pm, Peacock), Women's Discus Final (2:30pm, NBC), Women's 5000m Final (3:15pm, NBC), Women's 800m Final (3:47pm, NBC)
🏀 3x3 Basketball: Men's and Women's Bronze (3pm, Peacock) and Gold Medal Games (4pm, NBC) … The USA women are in the semifinals at 11:30am.
🏄 Surfing: Men's and Women's Finals (3:30pm, Peacock) … After yet another delay, they'll try again to complete the surfing competition.
⚽️ Men's Soccer: Spain vs. Morocco (12pm, E!); France vs. Egypt (3:30pm, USA) … Semifinals.
Medal events:
🏸 Badminton: Men's Singles Finals (8:30am, Peacock)
🎯 Shooting: Skeet Mixed Team Finals (9am, USA)
🛶 Canoe Slalom: Men's and Women's Kayak Cross Finals (10:55am, USA)
🚴♀️ Track Cycling: Women's Team Sprint Finals (1:50pm, Peacock)
Non-medal events: Artistic Swimming, Beach Volleyball, Diving, Equestrian, Hockey, Sailing, Sport Climbing, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Water Polo, Wrestling.
Primetime (NBC): Women's Balance Beam Final, Men's Track & Field 200m Heats, Women's Floor Exercise Final and Women's Track & Field 800m Final (8pm).
For a complete schedule, click here. Every event streams live on Peacock. Sign up here.
Scheffler wins gold, sobs on podium
Scottie Scheffler shot a final-round 62 on Sunday at Le Golf National to win gold. The American has earned nearly $28 million this season and typically smiles after wins. On Sunday he earned roughly $37,000 — and sobbed.
What they're saying: "Amazing," Rory McIlroy, who finished tied for fifth, said in summing up the week. "I still think that the Ryder Cup is the best tournament that we have in our game, pure competition, and I think this has the potential to be right up there with it."
"I think with how much of a sh*t show the game of golf is right now, and you think about the two tournaments that might be the purest form of competition in our sport, we don't play for money in it," he continued.
"So it speaks volumes for what's important in sports, and I think every single player this week has had an amazing experience."
The podium: Scheffler (-19) carded four consecutive birdies on the back nine to take the title by one stroke. Great Britain's Tommy Fleetwood (-18) won silver, and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (-17) claimed bronze.
The high school that won't stop producing Olympians
In the middle of a working-class neighborhood in Long Beach, California, is a century-old public school with a remarkable claim to fame.
From Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenberg:
Woodrow Wilson Classical High School churns out Olympians at a pace that other high schools around the country can't match.
The last time that Wilson didn't have an athlete at the Summer Olympics, Harry Truman was the President of the United States, gas cost 26 cents a gallon and credit cards hadn't been invented yet. Alumni of Wilson have competed at every Summer Olympics since 1952, with the exception of the 1980 Games that the U.S. boycotted.
Hanging from the walls of Wilson’s gymnasium are more than just state championship banners or jerseys of athletes whose numbers have been retired. There are also an array of banners celebrating the 30-plus alumni who have made the Olympics in everything from track and field, to swimming, to volleyball, to baseball, to rowing, to water polo.
Daily trivia
Novak Djokovic is the fifth player in the Open Era to complete the career Golden Slam (all four majors plus Olympic gold).
Question: Who are the other four?
Hint: Two men, two women.
Answer at the bottom.
In non-Olympics news...
⚾️ 20 straight losses: The White Sox lost their 20th straight game on Sunday, one shy of the AL record set by the 1988 Orioles. Chicago (27-87) is on pace to finish 38-124, which would smash the modern record for most losses set by the 1962 Mets (40-120).
Plus:
🏈 New Michigan coach Sherrone Moore could face NCAA sanctions in Stalions scandal
🏈 Three-time Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs signing with Titans
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Trivia answer: Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Steffi Graf
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