“Seville got a good start, Thompson’s in a winning position, Seville goes up to him, the two Jamaicans, it’s the young guy, Seville over the top of Thompson and Lyles.” And just like that, the 100m has a new king. Oblique Seville dethroned Noah Lyles today as he clocked the best time of his career (9.77 s) to win the 100m finals at the Tokyo World Athletics Championships. Kishane Thompson placed second, while the defending champion had to settle bronze. Oh and he also got a three-word message from the newly crowned 100 m world champion.

But first, some context. After the heats, Lyles–who had won his heat with a time of 9.95 s– was asked by the media whether he’d watched Seville’s race. To which Lyles, in typical Lyles fashion, provided. a rather interesting analysis. “Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen. That man was panicking in the back,” he said.

And naturally Seville was asked about his rival’s comments after his win. He began with, “Great — that’s the only word I can say. Great, and thanks to God. I have to be grateful to God.” And when asked about Lyles words? “Trust in God,” was all he had to say about it said.

Though he also said, “But hey, he’s a gamer, so hopefully he’ll get it back, and then we’ll have a great final. Alright, we’ll see you back at it soon.” After his heat 1 performance, the Jamaican had said that he had some personal issues, but it seems like he solved or put them behind him, as he shone bright in the 100m finals. He has now tied with Ferdinand Omanyala at number 10 in the list of the fastest 100 m runs of all time.

The Noah Lyles and Oblique Seville rivalry keeps getting better. Seville first edged out Lyles at the 2024 Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, clocking a world-leading 9.82 to Lyles’ 9.85. He carried that momentum into this season too, claiming big Diamond League victories, 9.86 in London and 9.87 in rainy Lausanne. On both occasions, Lyles had to settle for second, running 10.00 in London and 10.02 in Lausanne. And now he has taken his world title after an interesting comment. Noah has also taken the win with grace.

Noah Lyles responds after losing his 100m world title.

Although Noah Lyles did lose his 100 m crown today, he’s taken it well. He posted a message on X, which read, “I Got Nothing But The Joy of the Lord in my heart. It has been a very challenging year. Being able to give my all on the race that meant the most is all I can ask for. Next is the 200m, my favorite.” It’s very wholesome that both Seville and Lyles have thanked God in their wins and defeats.

As for the still 200m world champion, he suffered a bad season with injuries. Given his defeat to Seville and Kishane earlier this season, it seemed highly unlikely that he could have defeated both of them for the win in the 100m. Though he still has a very solid chance of winning in the 200m, with the only threat coming from Letsile Tebogo.

As Lyles made his 200m debut against Tebogo, it was highly predicted that the Botswana sprinter would win, but that did not happen. At the Monaco Diamond League, the 200m world champion clocked 19.88, finishing way ahead of Tebogo in 19.97. But in the finals of the Diamond League, things took a different turn. In Zurich, when the two came face-to-face again, the 200 m Olympic gold medalist took the lead, but the Olympic silver medalist wasn’t going to lose so easily.

Lyles pushed after the last curve as they entered the straight, and within seconds, the two of them were side by side on the track. With the naked eye, you would need an eagle’s vision to tell who won. Noah Lyles had recorded 19.74s to win the DL final, beating Letsile Tebogo by two hundredths of a second. Other than this, Tebogo had clocked a season’s best of 19.76 in Eugene, which is slower than the American’s 2025 world lead of 19.63 in the USATF championships. Lyles has the upper hand. Who is winning?