“My biggest rival is Noah Lyles. He is the world champion… I won’t be intimidated. Man, that hypes me up.” The rivalry between Kishane Thompson and Noah Lyles has taken an interesting turn. Thompson ran a personal best in 9.75 seconds with a tailwind of 0.8 m/s and won the 100m dash at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston. But the question is – Can he maintain his speed in a line-up against Lyles at the 2025 Tokyo World Championships? 

The Jamaican Championships win got him to the peak of the men’s 100m 2025 toplist by Track & Field Gazette. As far as Lyles was concerned, his absence from the recent games got him off the list, even though he’s currently the world champion with a record of 9.83 at the World Athletics Championships, Budapest. At the Paris Olympics, he broke that record by running 100m in just 9.79 seconds. But that’s only 0.04 seconds slower than Thompson’s record. Yet, Coach Rob from The Final Leg Track & Field had his doubts. 

He said, “The reason why Kishane can be a favorite, if you want to call him one, is because he’s supposed to be able to blow the field away. But I said ‘supposed to’, because at the end of the day, people be talking about Kishane’s races as if they happened already when they haven’t. Like 9.75 happened. But y’all be talking like 9.65 already happened, and it didn’t happen. So, maybe, he will run 9.69, 9.70, 9.71. Like, this might happen. But then again, it might not.”

The men’s division is apparently getting slower. But Kishane Thompson’s performance? It’s kind of erratic. Even though he won the Prefontaine Classic on July 5, 2025, in 9.83 seconds, he lost form in the closing meters. And fans took note. 

Nevertheless, Thompson has shown consistency like no one else. But still, he might not be able to beat his own record of 9.75 seconds. Coach Rob continued, “Let’s just use last year as an example. 9.77! Oh, he got more in the tank! Well, guess what? That was the end. That’s what we saw. That was the clip. Like that was the edge of what was there. So, at this point, all I know is that 9.75 is the edge. I’m gonna assume, I’m going to use last year’s mathematical calculator in order for a moment, this is Coach Rob’s calculator, the one up here… At 9.75, I’m gonna reduce that thing to 9.77. That’s the final quality race that we’re gonna get. All other things assumed, generic win factors, and so on. I’m assuming 9.77 is what you’re gonna see.” 

But with all things in mind, Kishane Thompson is currently looking forward to beating Noah Lyles at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. Let’s see how confident he is about his stance, shall we? 

Kishane Thompson looks forward to winning the title from Noah Lyles

Thompson’s record at the Jamaican Championships is the fastest time in the world since 2015. No wonder he’s at the top of the list in World Athletics rankings. He’s the second Jamaican, after Usain Bolt, to do so.

Following his win on 27th July, Kishane Thompson shared, “I’m never going to surprise myself, because I know how capable I am. I am very confident; even if I break the world record, it wouldn’t surprise me because I am that confident, and I’m working to achieve all my goals and the accolades.”

Lyles and Thompson eye a rematch in Silesia on August 16. The last time they competed against each other, both of them finished at 9.79 seconds, but Lyles won by five thousandths of a second. Crazy, right? Since then, Thompson has set his crosshairs on claiming the win. And the Wanda Diamond League, Silesia, might be the place to do it. 

But during the conversation in the Sprint Documentary Season 2 Episode 3, Thompson revealed that he’s actually looking forward to winning the Olympic gold. After failing to do so at the Paris Olympics, the 2028 LA Olympics might be the perfect spot for the Jamaican to conquer the track. But first, he must prove himself at the Tokyo World Championships. 

What are your speculations?