At the 2024 Paris Olympics, one thing was clear: Noah Lyles was the fastest man alive, or so said the Olympic gold medal around his neck. Despite battling the effects of Covid-19, the American star captured the 100m crown that eluded him in Tokyo… only for it to elude him in Tokyo once again. Because although he won the 200m gold medal at the Tokyo World Athletic Championships, Lyles has faced stiff competition in the 100m, and he has his work cut out for him if he wants to reclaim his spot at the top.

On X, journalist Travis Miller shared a list of the season’s fifteen best 100m sprinters, along with their season’s best times. And as his 100m bronze medal from the Tokyo Worlds suggested, Lyles has some catching up to do. Lyles sits near the very bottom of the list at number 14 with his time of 9.89s, just one hundredth of a second ahead of Akani Simbine (9.90s) in fifteenth.

Meanwhile, Kishane Thompson is, by the numbers, the fastest man of the season with his time of 9.75s. He’s followed by Oblique Seville’s 9.77s, which he recorded in his gold medal-winning race at Worlds. Lyles’ close competitor and rival in both the 100m and 200m, Kenny Bednarek, is also way above in third place with his 9.79s. By contrast, it’s been quite the drop-off for Lyles.

Last year, Lyles clocked 9.79s in the Olympic final, making him the third-fastest 100m sprinter of the year. Thompson was the fastest last year as well with 9.77s; a time he’s since improved upon at the Jamaican Championships this year, where he didn’t just clock the fastest time of the year, but the fastest legal time record in the past 10 years. It’s the sixth fastest time of all time, just behind Justin Gatlin’s 9.74s from 2015. In the overall list, Lyles sits at 13th.

Interestingly enough, though Lyles’ 9.89s puts him almost at the end of the overall top-15 rankings, that time was enough to secure him the world bronze medal. Talk about coming in clutch and making it count when he had to.

Nonetheless, for Lyles anything short of the win is a disappointment. And he’s had quite a few of them this season in the 100m. He kicked off his 2025 100m campaign at the London Diamond League on July 19, running 10.00 (-0.6) but coming up short against Oblique Seville in their first showdown of the year. A few weeks later in Silesia, he went head-to-head with Olympic champion Kishane Thompson in a much-hyped rematch of the Olympic 100m.

But the fastest man of the season proved why he has that title. Thompson won, 9.87 to Lyles’ 9.90 (+0.3). Days later in Lausanne, Lyles lined up against Seville once more, only for the Jamaican to prove too strong again, leaving Lyles second in 10.02 (-0.3). At the World Championships in Tokyo, the result reflected the season, though it added another chapter to a rivalry.

Noah Lyles has many rivals on the track, but off of it, the tension fades away

After Noah Lyles edged out Kenny Bednarek in the 200m final at the U.S. Championships (19.63 vs. 19.67), Bednarek shoved Lyles in the back post-finish following a tense stare-down, followed by a heated exchange of words. But by the time the World Championships rolled around, Bednarek and Lyles appeared to be getting along once more. After the heats, Lyles was giving interviews in the mixed zone when Bednarek passed by him.

Lyles saw him coming and, as he got closer, said, “Good job, bro.” Bednarek was quick to reply with, “You too.” After winning their respective heats, the two were seen on the staircase sharing a dap and talking to each other. Lyles has clearly moved past their earlier scuffle, recently revealing, “I’m actually going to keep that personal. That’s just something that involves me and my woman, me and Junelle [Bromfield].”

As for Lyles and Kishane Thompson, well, they were a wholesome duo at the World Championships. Thompson won the Olympic rematch against Lyles in the Silesia Diamond League, but at Worlds, they bonded: “Before we continue, I think you guys might have already noticed, but Kishane is a pretty big anime fan as well.”

This man was wearing an Ultra Instinct Goku shirt the whole warm-up and everything. I was like, yeah, I need to get me one of those. Perseverance, trying through difficult times, grief, getting over grief, love, inspiration. It’s all in there,” Lyles said in his pressser before the 100m showdown.

Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson are massive anime fans, especially of Dragon Ball. But they also have the potential to be the Goku and Vegeta (friendly rivals) of 100m in track and field. Don’t you think?