The remarkable statistic that lays bare Noah Lyles' incredible comeback to win 100m gold at the 2024 Olympics

Noah Lyles sat second last at halfway of the 100m final before launching a remarkable 50m fightback to claim an historic gold in Paris.

Lyles was not leading at any point until the final steps of a dramatic race which saw the American pip Kishane Thompson in a photo finish.

Thompson lost out by 0.005 seconds, despite the 23-year-old Jamaican running 9.79 on his Olympics debut in France.

It was a heartbreaking climax for Thompson, who took the lead 30m into the race and remained out in front until the closing second.

Lyles, on the other hand, was dead last for the first 40m of the race, only to move through the field and claim a remarkable victory.

The American was the slowest out of the blocks and did not move into seventh until the halfway mark. 

He eventually finished with a new personal best of 9.79.

Teammate Fred Kerley, meanwhile, sat second for the entire race until the final few metres, when he slipped into bronze medal position.

The fine margins separating the fastest men on the planet were laid bare by the race analysis, with only 0.12 seconds separating Lyles and eighth place Oblique Seville.

It was the first time all eight men have broken 10 seconds in a wind-legal 100 metres race.

'It's the one I wanted, it's the hard battle, it's the amazing opponents,' said Lyles.

'Everybody came prepared for the fight and I wanted to prove that I'm the man among all of them, I'm the wolf among wolves.

Defending Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy finished fifth in 9.85 seconds. Lyles is targeting further Paris gold in the 200m and relay events.