Noah Lyles had to wait for the photo finish to confirm his Paris 2024 Olympic 100m gold. The American crossed the line in a personal-best 9.784 seconds, but the finish was so close that he initially thought Kishane Thompson had beaten him. Thompson was eventually given 9.789, leaving Lyles with Olympic gold by just 200th of a second. As Lyles later revealed, that razor-thin margin was remarkably close to a prediction his late mentor Ralph Mann had made before the race.

Lyles appeared on the Ready Set Go podcast and recalled his final session with Mann before the Paris Games. The biomechanics expert held his index finger and middle finger just a small distance apart, using the gap to illustrate how little could separate Olympic gold from silver.

“That’s how much the difference between first and second is going to be,” Lyles recalled Mann telling him, on the podcast. “And my money’s on you.”

Thompson appeared to have the edge for much of the Olympic final, while Lyles had to make up ground after a slower start. But the American closed the gap in the final meters, setting up a finish that was almost impossible to call in real time. The initial scoreboard showed both sprinters at 9.79 seconds before the photo finish separated them. Lyles was awarded the gold in 9.784, with Thompson clocking 9.789, while Fred Kerley took bronze in 9.81. The 0.005-second margin brought Mann’s prediction rushing back to Lyles.

“I remember when I won and I was just screaming to Ralph,” Lyles recalled. “I’m like, ‘You were right. You were right. I can’t believe it. You were right’.”

Mann’s influence on Lyles’ career went well beyond that prediction. A former elite athlete himself, Mann won silver in the 400m hurdles at the 1972 Munich Olympics before turning his attention to biomechanics. He later earned a Ph.D. in biomechanics from Washington State University and built a career studying how elite sprinters and hurdlers moved, produced force and could improve their technique.

The two began breaking down a part of Lyles’ sprint that had long been a weakness. His start. When Lyles turned to the biomechanics expert in 2022, Mann’s first assessment was far from what the Olympic hopeful might have expected. 

Ralph Mann called Noah Lyles’ start “trash”

By the time Lyles turned to Mann in 2022, he was already one of the world’s best 200m sprinters. But his bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics had made him realise that his weakness was his start. Lyles sought out Mann for help. The biomechanics expert took one look at it and offered an assessment that left little room for interpretation.

“He came by, looked at it, and said, ‘That’s trash,’” Lyles recalled. “He’s very blunt, and I’m a blunt person so I can take it. Still, it was like, ‘Okayyyy. That hit differently’.”

The criticism gave them a clear place to start. Mann worked with Lyles on his first steps, body position and acceleration mechanics, breaking down how he could produce force more effectively out of the blocks.

Lyles later described the change in his first 30 meters as “drastic,” a development that became even more valuable as he shifted more attention toward the 100m. In an event where a slow start can put even an elite sprinter out of contention, improving that phase gave Lyles a stronger platform for the rest of the race. Mann also saw a ceiling in Lyles that extended beyond what he was showing at the time.

“I know Noah’s biggest competition is Noah,” he once said.

Their work continued through 2023 and 2024, with Mann using cameras, biomechanical software and his digital “stickman” model to dissect Lyles’ sprinting. He studied everything from his hip position and foot movement to ground contact and the mechanics of his first few steps, searching for small adjustments that could make Lyles’ acceleration more efficient. By the time Paris arrived, Lyles went on to show how far he had come.

Lyles also managed to break through against Christian Coleman in the indoor 60m, ending a six-race losing streak against the American sprinter in February 2024. Coleman still had the advantage out of the blocks, but Lyles stayed within range before pulling ahead in the closing meters to win 6.43 to 6.44. It was another indication that the work with Mann had helped Lyles limit the damage from his slower starts and bring his finishing speed into play.

With that, the Olympic champion now has another major test ahead of him as he prepares for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest from September 11-13. He has been named one of the event’s “Ultimate Stars.” And with Mann no longer here to see it, Lyles’ progress stands as a lasting testament to the years of work the two put into refining his sprinting.