Noah Lyles was quick to dedicate his Olympic gold medal to his late coach Rashawn Jackson after winning in 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 in the 200m – another event he will looking 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 be heard letting his emotions get the better of him.
It was Jackson who helped make Lyles the sprinter he is 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 failed to contain his emotions.
Speaking to reporters, Lyles said: “It’s an amazing moment, I don’t think it’s completely sunk in to be honest.
“I have so many homes, and Alexandria [city in Virginia] is definitely one of them, Charltotte, North Carolina, Orlando, Florida, Clermont, Gainesville [both Florida].
“There’s so many places that I have ties to, and my coach, Rashawn Jackson, he recently died.
“I remember when I was running on the back stretch and I was like, ‘This one is for you man.'”
It was at that point where Lyles could be heard breaking down.
Through apparent tears, he continued: “I thought he was going to be here to see it, I’m going to 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 know that he’s watching, but I really thought he was going to be here in the flesh.
“He believed that I was going to be a 100m runner just as much as I was going to be a 200m runner.”
Commenting on his quest to win gold medals in the 200m and 4x100m relay, he added: “Shoot, I’m on cloud nine because I just got the hardest one out of the way.
“The 100m is by far the hardest one, not to say that I don’t have competition all the way down.
“But I feel that was the one that could have slipped away from me.”
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