“Kishane Thompson will not compete in the men’s 100m,” the organizers announced. The Jamaican sprinter has been suffering from shin discomfort since the race last weekend in Poland. Now with his Olympic rival out of the way, who could have been a threat to Noah Lyles at the Lausanne Diamond League? Somebody who has once beaten him before. Another Jamaican, Oblique Seville. And from his words, it feels the defending champion’s crown is under threat.

“Bang!” went off the gun in Lausanne, and quite like a bullet from a gun, the 100m gold medalist shot out of the block. He was fast but not fast enough to catch up with the Jamaican Blood. Oblique Seville took the lead within milliseconds of the race starting, and he never gave it up. He clocked 9.87s (-0.3) to win the men’s 100m at the Lausanne Diamond League. Lyles was second and could not cross the ten-second mark, clocking 10.02s on the clock. After the race, Seville had something to share…

“Running 9.87 in those conditions shows I can go much faster, anywhere in the world. That’s a good time,” the Jamaican remarked. Of course, the rain made it feel like the athlete ran on water rather than leather, and clocking a sub-10 in such a condition is amazing. Then, he talked of Noah. “I’ve beaten the Olympic Champion twice, in London and here, and that gives me a lot of confidence heading into the championships.” History repeated. Oblique Seville outran Noah Lyles in the London Diamond League, clocking 9.86 while the American finished in 10.00, crossing the line in second place.

Now, the 24-year-old has his eyes on Noah’s World Championship Crown. He said, “It’s been a while since a Jamaican man has won the 100m at a global championship, and of course, I believe I can be the one to do it. My coach inspires me a lot, even the small tips he gives make a big difference.” The last Jamaican man to win the 100m at a global championship was Usain Bolt. He did so at the 2016 Rio Olympics, clocking 9.81 seconds, ahead of Justin Gatlin, who finished in 9.89 seconds.

But Seville is not the only championship threat for Lyles.

The 100m in Tokyo is going to have a very dangerous field stacked with some of the best 100m sprinters of the current time. Noah Lyles will look to defend the crown and repeat his three-peat, but it sure is not going to be easy.

Noah Lyles’ crown is under a lot of threat

Let’s take a trip down to Paris. Noah Lyles had broken down Kishane Thompson’s dream when he accelerated in the final few meters of the 100m race and won by diving at the finish line, a razor-thin margin of just 0.005 seconds. Fast forward to 2025, and Kishane Thompson has finally had his revenge. He edged out Olympic champion Noah Lyles in the 100m, clocking 9.87s to Lyles’ 9.90s, in what was their first head-to-head since the 2024 Paris Olympics. But this is where things get serious. Kishane was not satisfied.

He said, “My race today was not so good, not so bad. I enjoyed competition against Noah today. It is all about execution: I had problems with that, but I am finding it. The key is to find the momentum in the race and to maintain it till the end.” And not just this, he is the fastest man the track and field community has seen in the past 10 years. Back in 2015, Justin Gatlin had recorded 9.74, and since then no one had come close—until Kishane Thompson dropped his astonishing 9.75 at the Jamaican Nationals. Meanwhile, Noah is yet to dip under 9.8.

But if not Kishane, then there is Kenny Bednarek as well. Noah and Kenny have a head-to-head record of 13–2 in favor of the world champion. The only two times Bednarek has beaten Lyles have been on the biggest stage, the Olympic finals. First in the Tokyo 200m, where Bednarek claimed silver (19.68s) while Lyles took bronze (19.74s). And then again in the Paris 200m, where Bednarek once more finished ahead, earning silver (19.62s) while Lyles slipped to bronze (19.70s). Though Noah has always outrun him at the World Championships.

At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Lyles destroyed the field with a blazing 19.31s, an American record, to take gold, while Bednarek settled for silver in 19.77s. And the story was almost the same at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, where Lyles claimed another 200m title in 19.52s, with Bednarek trailing way back in fifth place with 20.07s.

But let’s not forget, the thing playing in Kenny’s favor right now is his 9.79s ( PB of both Noah and Kenny) in the 100m, a reminder that on the right day, he has the raw speed to flip the script. So who’s your pick for the 100m at Worlds?