USA's Noah Lyles Stunned by Oblique Seville in 100m, Fails to Win Gold Medal at Worlds

Noah Lyles can no longer claim to be the fastest man in men's track and field.

That title now belongs to Jamaica's Oblique Seville after his victory in the men's 100-meter final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.

Seville had a personal best time of 9.77 seconds to outrun fellow Jamaican Kishane Thompson (9.82) and Lyles in third place (9.89).

The men's 100 meters was one of the most highly anticipated events of the 2025 Worlds thanks to the competitive rivalry between Lyles and Thompson. A Diamond League meet last month in Silesia only added to the hype.

Thompson crossed the finish line in 9.87 seconds, narrowly ahead of Lyles at 9.90, in their first head-to-head race since the 2024 Summer Games.

For Thompson, the result was an obvious improvement over last summer. More than that, he thought it reflected a positive change in terms of his mindset on the track.

"Nobody is perfect, but I'm working on improving my strengths and my weaknesses," he said. "Paris last year was a big learning factor. I learned it is me against myself. No disrespect to my rivals, but anything is possible when you execute well."

Lyles, meanwhile, wasn't sweating his second-place showing. He asserted that "I compete against myself," so he was focused more on his own time with an eye toward the Worlds.

"I needed to see a sub-10," he said. "I needed to see winning, beating people, I took out some really big heads today, people who run 9.7 and 9.8. I am getting the confidence. It makes me really excited for not only today, but also for next week and Tokyo."

The Silesia event was also a bit of a reality check for Kenny Bednarek, who won the men's 100-meter final in the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Lyles was absent on that occasion and reminded everyone in August that he is still the best American male sprinter. Bednarek was third behind Thompson and Lyles with a time of 9.96 seconds, much slower than his personal best time of 9.79 seconds in the U.S. Championships.

Bednarek settled for fourth on Sunday.

All eyes were on Lyles and Thompson, only for Seville to play the spoiler role.

This was only the first of three events for Lyles in the 2025 Worlds. Preliminaries for the men's 200 begin Wednesday, with the final scheduled for 9:06 a.m. ET on Friday. The men's relay will bring the Worlds to a conclusion at 8:20 a.m. on Sept. 21.