The latest on the Paris Olympics | CNN

It’s fair to say that Noah Lyles has been through the wringer.

Despite being routinely one of the fastest men alive, Lyles suffered set-backs in journey to Olympic glory.

He won world championship gold in the 200m and as part of the United States’ 4x100m relay team in Doha in 2019, but could only muster a bronze medal in Tokyo in 2021.

Despite the big step back, Lyles continued to push forward, winning four more world championship golds – two 200m titles, one more 4x100m relay title and the 2023 100m title – all while oozing confidence and saying that he was going to do it in Paris.

But still, doubters remained if he could do it on the biggest stage in the Olympics’ premier sprint, especially after faltering slightly in the heats and semifinals leading up to Sunday evening’s showpiece event.

Yet when the lights shone brightest and silenced echoed around Saint-Denis, Lyles put his doubters to rest by winning the 100m gold and the title of “World’s Fastest Man” by just five-thousandths of a second.

Afterwards, he described his journey as being of “rollercoasters, ups and downs.”

“I think back to Tokyo when I messed up handling the rounds. From then on, I was like: ‘I’m never going to do that again. I’m going to handle this correctly and practice over the years.’ It’s accumulated to this point. You only need one. As long as that’s the last one, that’s all that matters.”