Noah Lyles is looking to sprint his way into Olympic history.
The Team USA star enters the men's 200m final at the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday with a chance to pull off the rare sprint double.
Lyles is in a position to make history thanks to his thrilling triumph in the 100m final on Sunday. The 27-year-old turned on the jets late to win the race by a fraction of a second, capturing his first Olympic gold medal and Team USA's first 100m title in two decades.
Lyles has already earned the title of "Fastest Man in the World" at the Paris Games, and he's now on the doorstep of joining very exclusive Olympic company:
How many sprint doubles at an Olympics have there been?
The men's sprint double -- where an athlete wins both the 100m and 200m dashes at the same Games -- has been achieved a combined 11 times by nine athletes in the history of the Olympics.
When was the last sprint double at an Olympics?
Olympic legend Usain Bolt was the last man to complete the sprint double -- and he achieved the feat at three straight Games.
The eight-time gold medalist swept the 100m and 200m sprints at the 2008 Beijing Games, 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio Games, becoming the only man to record an Olympic sprint double multiple times. Bolt in 2012 also became the first athlete -- male or female -- to ever complete the sprint double at consecutive Games.
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Fellow Jamaican Elaine Thompson-Herah recently became the first woman to win both the 100m and 200m races at consecutive Olympics, doing so in the 2016 Games and pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games. Thompson-Herah had previously become the first woman to complete the sprint double since American Florence Griffith-Joyner at the 1988 Seoul Games.
List of sprint doubles at an Olympics
Here's a look at every men's sprint double in the history of the Games, with Carl Lewis' 1984 feat standing as the most recent by an American:
- Archie Hahn, USA: 1904
- Ralph Craig, USA: 1912
- Percy Williams, Canada: 1928
- Eddie Tolan, USA: 1932
- Jesse Owens, USA: 1936
- Bobby Morrow, USA: 1956
- Valeriy Borzov, Soviet Union: 1972
- Carl Lewis, USA: 1984
- Usain Bolt, Jamaica: 2008, 2012, 2016
Owens, Morrow and Lewis, along with Bolt in both 2012 and 2016, expanded their sprint doubles into triples by winning the 4x100m relay as well.
What's Noah Lyles' best time in the 200m?
The 200m is considered to be Lyles' stronger race compared to the 100m. After earning bronze at the Tokyo Games, Lyles didn't lose a single 200m race until Wednesday's semifinals in Paris.
Lyles placed second in his semifinal heat with a time of 20.08 seconds, finishing behind Botswana's Letsile Tebogo (19.96). Lyles posted the third-best semifinal time overall behind Tebogo and fellow American Kenny Bednarek (20.00).
Bednarek is the event's reigning Olympic silver medalist. The defending Olympic champion, Canada's Andre De Grasse, failed to qualify for the final.
Lyles' personal-best time in the 200m is also the American record of 19.31 seconds, which he tallied at the 2022 World Championships. His season-best time of 19.53 seconds came at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June.
What's the world record in the 200m?
Usain Bolt set the 200m world record with a time of 19.19 seconds at the 2009 World Championships. But Lyles has said he believes he'll eventually break Bolt's record mark -- will it be in the 200m final?
When does Noah Lyles run the 200m final?
Lyles will look to become just the 10th man to ever pull off the Olympic sprint double when he races in the 200m final on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
How to watch Noah Lyles race in the men's 200m final
The men's 200m final will be shown on NBC and Peacock. It will also be available to stream here:
How many Olympic medals does Noah Lyles have?
Lyles enters the 200m final with two Olympic medals: a 200m bronze from the Tokyo Games and a 100m gold from the Paris Games.
He's also a three-time world champion in the 200m and the reigning world champion in the 100m.
When is Noah Lyles' next race?
Following the 200m final, Lyles is scheduled to next move over to the men's 4x100m relay. The relay event begins with the first round on Thursday followed by the final on Friday.
So there's a chance Lyles will enter the weekend with an Olympic sprint triple under his belt.
