Noah Lyles' 100m progression: A look at American's journey from breaking 10-second barrier in 2016 to clocking a new personal best in 2024

Noah Lyles has been running the 100m ever since the start of his professional career in 2016. However, it wasn't until recent years that he began to be considered a specialist in the event despite having clocked an impressive 9.86 in 2019.

Lyles broke the sub-10 barrier for the first time in 2016, clocking 9.9 at Fairfax, VA. It took him two years to break that mark, running new personal bests of 9.89 and 9.88 at the USA Championships, on the same day.

The 27-year-old broke that mark at the 2019 Shanghai Diamond League, clocking 9.86s for the victory. The same year, he won the 100m Diamond League title, his first major medal in the event. Lyles also won the 200m Diamond League title as well as his first 200m world title in 2019, announcing himself as a medal contender for the Tokyo Olympics.

Noah Lyles managed to qualify for the 200m and won a bronze medal in Tokyo. It was an underwhelming achievement by the standards he had set. He also failed to qualify in the 100m. However, following the Tokyo Olympics, the world saw a resurgence in Lyles, and not only has he qualified in both the 100m and 200m for the Paris Olympics, but he is an overwhelming favorite for both gold medals.

Following his 9.86 performance in 2019, it took Noah Lyles four years to break that, clocking a blistering 9.83s at the 2023 World Championships to win his first 100m world title. Following the championships, he ran 9.85s at the Prefontaine Classics.

Five of the fastest times over 100m for Noah Lyles have come in the last two years, and three of those are in 2024 only. He ran 9.85 at the Racers Grand Prix in Jamaica, then matched his lifetime best of 9.83 at the US Olympic Trials before registering a 9.81s into a headwind (-0.3) at the London Diamond League.

More than fast times, Noah Lyles is focused on winning

2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Noah Lyles qualifies for Paris Olympics (Photo-Getty)

Noah Lyles easily ran his 9.81s at the London Diamond League. After a relatively slow start, he picked up the pace and as he neared the 70m mark, he was in the lead. Add the fact that he ran the new personal into a negative headwind, Lyles could have matched Kishane Thompson's world-leading 9.77s. However, he said he isn't concerned about fast times.

"It’s about the win. You can have the fastest time in the world, but if you don’t have the win to back it up, you start to get left behind," Lyles said (via Citius Mag).

Lyles has demonstrated the capability to run as fast as he needs to win a race. Be it the World Championships last year or the London Diamond League this year, he did break his personal best when needed. He will need to break it again to win the 100m gold at the Paris Olympics.