Noah Lyles had dismissed Oblique Seville’s shaky start in the heats with a sharp remark, telling Peacock, “That man was panicking in the back.” A day later in Tokyo, it was Seville who silenced the chatter. The Jamaican, once written off for slow launches, surged through the final of the men’s 100 meters at the World Athletics Championships on September 14, 2025, to grab the gold in 9.77 seconds, his career-best performance, also witnessed by his Usain Bolt himself.

“It’s a pleasure to have Usain watching me,” said Seville, after his victory. For Seville, the triumph held symbolic weight. After years of being billed as Bolt’s natural heir, he finally delivered on the same stage where the Jamaican legend had closed his own global sprinting career a decade earlier. “It is a tremendous feeling. I know my talent and trust in myself,” Seville told reporters, adding, “Doing it in front of Usain is a tremendous feeling.” 

The victory also carved Seville’s name into the men’s 100-meter all-time top ten. His 9.77-second clocking matched Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, placing him alongside icons such as Usain Bolt at 9.58, Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake at 9.69, and Justin Gatlin at 9.74. The roster remains overwhelmingly dominated by sprinters from the United States and Jamaica, yet conspicuously absent from the roll of honor is Noah Lyles, the reigning Olympic champion. Lyles owns medals across the 100 and 200, but his lifetime best has so far not been good enough to crack into the top-10. 

The race itself had all the tension expected of a global final. Seville perfected his finishing drive in the last 30 meters, a phase he admitted “had been a problem during the season.” Thompson, the world leader, settled for silver in 9.82 seconds, while Lyles’ attempt at a late charge never materialized. “You always want the gold, but it’s been a crazy season, injury, rushing my season to try and get as many races as possible in,” Lyles reflected. “I came out here, I got my best start, I got my best race of the year. I’m never going to be disappointed in that.” Yet despite those words, the result underlined the one gap in his resume. A place among the fastest men in history.

Seville’s progression into the elite bracket marks the first time since Bolt in 2015 that a Jamaican has captured the men’s 100m world title. His performance also broke a pattern of near-misses, with bronze finishes at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, and a last-place stumble at the Paris Olympic final. In Tokyo, he mastered the pressure, while Lyles, even after his barbed words during the heats, was left chasing.

The men’s 100 meters has always served as a barometer for sprinting supremacy. With Seville joining the pantheon, Jamaica again asserts its lineage, while the United States counts multiple representatives on the list but not its current Olympic champion. For Lyles, the Tokyo bronze adds to his medal collection, but Seville’s gold and his entry into the all-time top ten deliver a reminder that sprinting immortality requires more than podium finishes. But for Noah, this has not been the first time this season that he failed to leave his mark as one among the best. Lyles missed out on the season’s top 10 list way before the Tokyo final run, as his rivals claimed the leading spots.

Noah Lyles left out as Kishane Thompson and Kenny Bednarek rule the 2025 100m list

Noah Lyles entered the late summer season in pursuit of rhythm, yet the official update of the year’s fastest men’s 100-metre times placed him on the outside looking in. The list released on August 22 by Track & Field Gazette did not feature the Olympic champion, while Kishane Thompson and Kenny Bednarek assumed command of the rankings. Thompson led with his 9.75 seconds at the Jamaican Championships, followed closely by Bednarek’s 9.70 at the USATF Outdoor Championships, with Thompson’s second entry at 9.80 reinforcing his growing authority. The absence of Lyles among these names marked a striking development for an athlete accustomed to dictating the field.

The deeper cut came from familiar adversaries. Oblique Seville, who had edged Lyles in Lausanne, appeared twice within the top ten, his best mark a 9.83 at the Jamaican Championships. Bryan Levell and Abdul-Rasheed Saminu joined the group, alongside Americans Trayvon Bromell and T’Mars McCallum, both registering under 9.85. It was the first such tally in recent memory where Lyles’ name was missing entirely, despite his standing as the reigning global figure in the 100 metres. For a competitor who prided himself on consistency, the omission carried symbolic weight, underscoring the ground he had lost to his rivals.

Lyles himself did not shy from acknowledging the strain of his interrupted campaign. He described 2025 as “probably my most wild and unexpected year,” citing injury as the central disruption. Even while reflecting on notable showings in the 200 metres, including a world-leading 19.63 at the USATF Championships, he conceded that progress in the shorter sprint had been elusive. “It’s been rushed, to say the least,” he admitted, while insisting that repeated second-place finishes showed he remained firmly engaged with the contest. Yet the seasonal ledger told its own story. For once, Lyles stood outside the fastest company, watching as Thompson and Bednarek dictated the order. And now, after Tokyo Worlds, it happened yet again!