The Men’s 100m heats at the Paris Olympics had fans in for a surprise with the results. Specializing in the 200m event, Kenny Bednarek went the fastest in the heats with a time of 9.97 seconds while Fred Kerley recorded the exact same time to take second place.
Great Britain’s Louie Hinchcliffe was the biggest surprise of the day as he recorded a time of 9.98 seconds to throw his hat in the ring for gold medal contention.
Kishane Thompson was the fastest among the favorites, but he did not break the sub-10 seconds barrier. Even the defending champion, Andre De Grasse, barely made it to the semi-finals, as he finished his heat with a time of 10.07 seconds.
Most importantly, Noah Lyles failed to be in the top nine with a time of 10.04. Not looking too nimble on his feet, Lyles now faces the questions of the fans, as he is yet to break the sub-10 barrier in the French capital.
One fan quickly pointed out that Lyles was outside the top 8.
Noah Lyles not in top 8
— HeavenBound (@gospelsongsng) August 3, 2024
While another claimed this could be one of the most unpredictable 100m finals ever.
We’re about to have one of the craziest unpredictable 100M final ever with how this Heats just went.
So many underdogs.
— Lavaj (@roadsog) August 3, 2024
One fan asked where Lyles was after the heats.
And where’s the supposedly fastest man in the world, Noah lyles at?
— ً (@tsimiks) August 3, 2024
And another came to defend the 27-year-old.
Noah is fine. It’s just qualifying Heats. No need to use up energy. He qualified and that’s all that matters.
— Anthony (@JacksonCAnthony) August 3, 2024
The semifinals are set to take place on August 4 at 2:05 pm, and all the athletes will be hoping to improve on their initial times. But there might be a few upsets, given the pairings for the penultimate round of the Paris Olympics.
