Noah Lyles has a gold medal around his neck and his eyes set on the stars

Saint-Denis, France — The fastest man on the planet was slow getting to bed. He had spent years dreaming of the moment, so forgive Noah Lyles for staying up late to watch. Over and over. Each time, thankfully, the same result: a photo finish, a gold medal, redemption.Finally, around 2:45 a.m., "I had to stop watching the race," he said.Lyles's life changed in those 9.784 seconds, though it surely will take time to appreciate just how much. One day after winning the 100-meter race, the marquee sprint of any Olympic track meet, packed with glitz, glamour and so much speed, Lyles's profile and his place in the sports world had instantly skyrocketed to new heights."What he is recognizing and reflecting on is that he is beginning to transcend the sport," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.Nipping Jamaica's Kishane Thompson at the finish line was big for Lyles, Coe said, but it was huge for track and field.Lyles "winning last night was important because he's now creating a narrative that is heading us back into the Usain Bolt territory," said Coe, himself a two-time Olympic champion. "And that is hugely important. It's a recognizable face. It's a face that you've now got young people talking about. … Friends of mine who have got young kids, they're now talking about Noah Lyles in the same breath as some of the highest-profile sportsmen and women in the world."Like everyone else, Coe watched in astonishment as Lyles caught Thompson at the finish line, his 9.79-second finish beating the Jamaican by 0.005 seconds. It was the fastest Olympic 100 meters since Bolt set the Olympic record with a 9.63 in 2012.To truly ascend to the throne — one that has been largely vacant since Bolt's hung up his spikes seven years ago — Lyles will need to continue working through his to-do list at these Paris Games. So he was back at the track Monday night, settling into the starting blocks of his 200-meter heat.Lyles breezed through qualifying, winning his heat in a casual 20.19 seconds. He advanced to Wednesday's semifinal, the next step on his quest for a second gold. He's hoping to sweep his three events here, which includes the 4x100 relay, just as Bolt did in 2012 and '16.The 27-year-old Alexandria, Va., native was relaxed following his heat. The 200 has always been his signature event, and he hasn't lost a race sprinting around the curve since finishing third at the Tokyo Games three years ago. Many track observers are watching to see what time Lyles posts, not necessarily what color medal he wins.Lyles called the 200 his favorite race because it shows everything he can do and highlights his "top-end speed.""None of them is winning," he added. "When I come off the turn, they will all be depressed."The rest of the track world, meanwhile, was still processing that 100 final, studying frame-by-frame video and squinting at that finish line photo. The majesty of Lyles's run was coming into better focus. His reaction time at the gun — 0.178 seconds — was tied for slowest in the field, but Thompson's was only 0.002 better, and the 100-meter starting blocks had never been Lyles's forte."When I looked at the data, I was like, this looks just like some of my greatest races," he said. "It wasn't that I was struggling to get out; everybody else stepped up."Both Lyles and Thompson picked up speed with each stride, soon a pair of freight trains barreling the down the track. Lyles hit his top speed 65 meters into the race — 27 mph. More impressive: He maintained that speed over the final 35 meters. One of his final 10-meter splits was an eye-popping 0.82 seconds.Thompson, meanwhile, slightly decelerated down the stretch, which allowed Lyles to close the gap. Lyles pulled ahead just after the nine-second mark, as the runners leaned into the finish line.The 200 is Lyles's baby; the 100 had been his project. He finished seventh at the U.S. trials in 2021 and couldn't race the 100 at the Tokyo Games. At the 2022 world championships, the Americans swept the podium, but again, Lyles wasn't among them. The Paris 100 was an important goal. He needed to get out the block faster and hit his top speed sooner. But what really separates champions is finding a way to finish.Lyles finally broke through, winning the 100 at last year's world championships in Budapest, but Sunday's gold and incredible finish served as a formal coronation."It's like all great individuals in sport and great teams: They tend, when it really matters, to find a way of winning," Coe said. "And that's what he did last night."Coe placed the gold around Lyles's neck Monday night at a medal ceremony in the stadium. He said it's clear that Lyles's mission at the Paris Games isn't just to post fast times and pick up hardware. Lyles is using the moment to raise his profile as well as that of track and field. Like Bolt, he's able to make sure his spotlight shines on the entire sport."Noah knows it's not enough to be another just another Olympic champion or another world champion. He wants to fill a stadium, and he also wants to fill a news conference," Coe said. "And actually what he has to say, it's not just for the moment. What he actually has to say is actually profoundly important for the sport."For Lyles, the 100 victory is a launching point. On the dais late Sunday night, he charmed a packed news conference room, moving the goal posts and ramping up the bravado."I want my own shoe. I want my own trainer. Dead serious," he said. "I want a sneaker. There ain't no money in spikes. There's money in sneakers. Even Michael Johnson didn't have his own sneakers."But even a champion can be humbled. Lyles visited doping control, finished his media obligations and returned to the Olympic Village. His girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield, an Olympic sprinter for Jamaica, called him on the way to say she had left her spikes at the Airbnb of their masseuse. She needed them for her 400-meter heat the next morning and asked Lyles to pick them up."Here I am at 2 a.m., waddling with a spike bag, my bag and some toiletries," he said. "I'm (like) 'Hmm, here I am, Olympic champion in the 100 meters, waddling to my girlfriend's room with all this stuff.'""Not only was I an Olympic champion," he noted. "I was also the savior of the spikes."