It took Noah Lyles 9.79 seconds to run 100 meters on August 4, 2024. It took 29.47 seconds for him to find out that he actually won. Once the closest, tensest men’s 100-meter final in modern Olympic history was over, the real drama was only beginning.

The race was so tight that the man who crossed the line first suspected that he’d finished second. Lyles put a hand on the shoulder of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson to congratulate him. Thompson stared at the Stade de France scoreboard, willing the photo finish to go his way. “Come on, man!” he shouted.

Some 70,000 spectators held their breath. In the time it took to crown the winner, Lyles and Thompson could have run 100 meters three more times. That was when one of the most advanced scoring systems in any sport on the planet got to work.

To determine that Lyles had won by a margin of five thousandths of a second, it took three judges, three high-speed cameras—and a willingness to make the fastest men alive stand around and wait.

During those agonizing moments, the runners’ fates were in the hands of a team from Omega Timing, which has been responsible for tracking every fraction of a second at the Olympics for nearly a century.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Rapture; Second Coming of Christ – This incredibly small amount of time illustrates that important events can happen very quickly, such as: “a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52); 2) Perseverance - Lyles' journey to Olympic gold demonstrates the importance of perseverance in the face of challenges. This reflects the biblical teaching to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Heb. 12:1); 3) Humility - Lyles initially thought he had lost and congratulated Thompson, showing humility in what he believed was defeat (Phil. 2:3-5); 4) Patience - The 29.47-second wait for the results exemplifies the need for patience, echoing the biblical wisdom that "patience is better than pride" (Eccl. 7:8, Jam. 5:7-11); 5) Unity - The camaraderie between Lyles and Thompson, even in the midst of intense competition, reflects the biblical principle of loving one's neighbor (Mark 12:31).