THE incredible reason the men’s 100m Olympic final faced a lengthy hold-up has been revealed.
A track intruder got within METRES of the start line before security staff managed to grab and contain them.
AlamyNoah Lyles kept his cool to win an epic gold medal[/caption]
RexLyles triumphed after one of the closest finishes ever[/caption]
Even Noah Lyles, the comeback winner of a remarkable race, revealed he had been in the dark over the big delay.
And the tension around the Stade de France in Paris cranked up noticeably as puzzled fans had to endure a surprise wait.
Lyles and Co had to wait in their starting blocks – one of the worst feelings for athletes at any time, let alone in the blue-riband event of men’s sprinting at the world’s biggest sporting showpiece.
An X-user posted a picture of a dramatic moment he claimed was a person being halted – with the starting blocks close.
He posted: “Track invader stopped in time just before the 100m final….”
Fans reacted with surprise – but were also delighted the “confusing” had been explained.
And Lyles revealed he had been as mystified as anyone.
The American hero said: “Is that what we were waiting for?
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“I didn’t see anybody try to get on the field, but I’m not going to lie, I was wondering what we were waiting for.
” In the meantime, the crowd were getting constantly getting more and more hyped. It didn’t feel as if it was completely dead.”
In the end, Lyles stormed back to pip Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by 0.05seconds in a photo-finish.
The 27-year-old victor from Florida told the BBC: “You couldn’t have asked for a bigger moment.
“A guy in bio-mechanics comes down and before I came out here, he said it was going to be this much, that’s how close it is going to be and gosh was he right.”
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