Noah Lyles finishes 2nd in 100m heat, reaches Olympic semis - ESPN

SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles' Olympic Games have officially begun, but with a little less dazzle than anticipated.

The American sprinter, who is expected to contend for gold medals in three events, had a flat opening-round 100-meter dash at the Stade de France on Saturday afternoon.

Running in 10.04 seconds, Lyles finished his heat in second place, falling to this year's 100-meter NCAA champion, Louie Hinchcliffe of Great Britain. Hinchcliffe, who competes at the University of Houston under legendary American Olympian Carl Lewis, won the heat in 9.98 seconds.

«These boys said they ain't coming to play,» Lyles said. «And I guess that's my first lesson in underestimating the power of an Olympics. When somebody's on the line, they say they're going to give it their all or nothing.

»The plan was first. But it didn't happen. Second is fine. We'll make sure from here on out it's first."

Lyles still easily made it through to Sunday's semifinal round. But he now knows he can't take his competition lightly moving forward.

«Now I don't have to hold back,» Lyles said. «Now that I know that everybody's ready to go. It's like, 'OK, if you guys are going to blow your loads, then I'm ready to go.'»

Once all eight heats were complete, Lyles' 10.04 seconds officially ranked as the 12th-best time of the day. It was his slowest run in more than a year, and his first run in 2024 at 10 seconds or more.

Fellow Americans Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley tied for the day's fastest runs, comfortably coming in at 9.97 seconds out front of their respective heats.

«It felt pretty good, it felt easy,» Bednarek said. «It's just getting the jitters out, waiting for so long to get on the track. So finally got to step on it and came out with a bang.