'Oh my god, I'm amazing': How 'unafraid' Noah Lyles silenced critics in historic American victory

After months of trash-talking and rising expectations, Noah Lyles is officially the fastest man in the world.

However, the gold medal did not come as clearly as he likely planned.

Lyles clinched victory in the men's 100m by just .005 of a second in a thriller photo finish, leaving Jamaican debutant Kishane Thompson heartbroken.

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"I went up to him and said 'Hey man, I think you got that one'," Lyles told Nine after the race.

"There was a lot of doubt there. I thought I didn't outdo Kishane, I thought he outdid me... but when my name came up I was like 'oh my god, I'm amazing.'"

The American ripped his name bib from his shirt and held it in the air to celebrate his victory and announce himself as the fastest man in the world.

"My coach said to come out here and control this field. Any time that I control the crowd I know that it's my race to lose," he said.

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Lyles is known for being one of the greatest showmen in sport, with his outgoing personality a reflection of his confidence.

The 27-year-old is among one of the more outspoken American athletes competing in the 2024 Olympics.

He has previously sparked backlash for his criticism of the NBA's notion of labelling its title winners as world champions.

"You know the thing that hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have 'world champion' on their head," he said at a press conference at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

"World champion of what? The United States? Don't get me wrong, I love the U.S. at times, but that ain't the world...We are the world."

Leading NBA stars were among the many who offered their opinions on the matter, with Kevin Durant calling for "someone (to) help this brother."

The comments resurfaced just weeks before the athletics programme in Paris commenced, placing a hot target for social media critics on his back.

From heated controversies with the NBA to backlash online, US sprinting great Michael Johnson believes that is what Lyles needed to unleash his comeback plan.

"When you're the athlete in the race and you're in a photo finish, you have no idea," Johnson told Nine.

"From the naked eye you couldn't tell which one it was going to be. Noah wasn't running afraid, that's why he won.

"He's not afraid to say, 'I want to do something special and I want all eyes on me'. Most athletes would then go 'Oh, I put that out there, now I've got to deliver. I may not. These guys are running faster', and what that causes you to do is run afraid.

"The thing that also makes Noah unique is that he's unafraid. When he talks the talk he knows because he talks so much that there are people out there who love him and people who hate him. There were people demonstrating that they just wanted him to lose.

"He has that confidence and he's running loose. It's not that he doesn't care, he's going to give his best. He will deal with the backlash and just ignore it then move on.

"Noah has been doing a lot of talking over the last couple of months but he's backing it up as well... and at the end of the day you still have to win."

Lyles entered the Games as the reigning world champion in both the 100m and 200m disciplines but had yet to claim the honour of the fastest man in the world.

The US has been the most successful nation in 100m at the Olympics, winning 16 of the 29 possible men's gold medals.

However, the recent domination of world record holder and most successful sprinter to compete at the Games - Usain Bolt - has prevented the nation from increasing their success.

Carl Lewis of America is the only other man to have won multiple gold medals in the 100m at the Olympics, with Lyles' achievement the first time an athlete from the US has won the event in the past 20 years.

"Coming into this Olympic Games, the men's 100m had not been great over the last couple of years with Usain Bolt just dominating it didn't make it so competitive," Johnson said.

"This is one of the most competitive races that we've seen in a very long time. There was literally five hundredths of a second separating first and second.

"So many of these guys coming into this race had the potential to be the gold medallist.

"We started to see a little bit of separation once the semi finals came through and at that point it looked like it was Kishane Thompson's race to lose.

"But you can never count out Noah Lyles because his spend once he gets up into his running is just superior to everyone else."