Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson defeated Olympic champion Noah Lyles in the 100m race at the Silesia Diamond League meet on Saturday.This marked their first encounter since the Olympics in Paris last year, where Lyles secured gold by a margin of just five-thousandths of a second ahead of Thompson.Thompson clocked a joint meet record of 9.87 seconds in Chorzow, Poland. Lyles finished second with 9.90 seconds, while American Kenny Bednarek took third place with 9.96 seconds.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“It felt alright. My job is to get the job done,” said Thompson.Thompson, who did not qualify for the 2023 world championships in Budapest, is now considered a top contender for this year’s event in Tokyo, scheduled for September 13-21.Watch:“Honestly, I compete against myself, no offence to the competition,” he said.“I needed to see a sub-10. 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,” said Lyles.Lyles competed from lane seven, positioned between Bednarek and Christian Coleman. Thompson ran in lane five, with South African Akani Simbine on his left.Thompson dominated the race from the start in the hot and humid conditions, leading from beginning to end.Lyles recorded the joint slowest reaction time among all nine competitors. He appeared to be out of medal contention initially but managed to secure second place in the final 20 meters, overtaking Bednarek.Thompson’s winning time equaled the meet record of 9.87 seconds, jointly held by Americans Ronnie Baker and Fred Kerley.His performance fell short of his world-leading time of 9.75 seconds, set at the Jamaican trials in June, which ranks him sixth on the all-time list.
