PARIS — Noah Lyles promised fireworks in the men's 100, and he delivered Sunday night at Stade de France with the first U.S. gold in the event since 2004, taking the title of World's Fastest Man by .005 over Jamaica's Kishane Thompson. Both men clocked 9.79 in one of the closest finishes in Games history, and Lyles got the nod 9.784-9.789. Tokyo silver medalist Fred Kerley claimed bronze with a season best 9.81, and Kenny Bednarek was seventh in 9.88 in the deepest race ever. It was also the first time since 2004 that Americans claimed two medals in the event. Team USA is atop the medal table with nine, six more than any other nation, and leads the team scoring with 81, almost triple the next highest country. Moving into a tie for the sixth-fastest American ever, Lyles trailed Thompson and the fast-starting Kerley through 60 meters before he started to close the gap incrementally. Maintaining momentum better than the rest of the field, Lyles leaned at the line to pick up the first half of the sprint double, a feat he performed last year at Budapest in the World Championships. The last time the top two finishers in the 100 were given the same time was 1980 at Moscow, when Britain's Allan Wells won over Cuba's Silvio Leonard with both timed in 10.25. Never before have seven men dipped under 9.90 in the same race, and all eight finalists broke 10.00, also a historic first. A two-woman tussle for the top spot in the women's high jump ended up with Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh grabbing the gold over Australia's Nicola Olyslagers by virtue of clearing 2.00/6-6.75 on her first attempt, while the Australian needed three tries. Behind them, five women had a best of 1.95/6-4.75, including Vashti Cunningham. The bronze battle culminated in a tie between Ukraine's Irina Gerashchenko and Eleanor Patterson of Australia, who went over that height first time and had no previous misses. Cunningham also sailed over that height on her initial attempt but had needed two attempts at 1.91/6-3.25 and that gave her sole possession of fifth. Canada's reigning world champion Ethan Katzberg locked away the men's hammer gold on his first attempt, a gargantuan 84.12/276-0 that gave him a winning margin of more than 13 feet and the second longest throw in Olympic history. Katzberg's only other legal throw was an 82.28/269-11 in round three that was seventh best in Games history and would have been enough to easily win. Rudy Winkler had his best effort in round one, too, a 77.92/255-8 that placed him sixth. Controlling the tempo all the way in the second semifinal of the men's 1500, Yared Nuguse led a 1-2 U.S. finish with a 3:31.72 that was the fastest of the two semis and the second fastest semifinal time in Games history. Right behind him, Hobbs Kessler sewed up his place with a 3:31.97, the second fastest overall. Together with Cole Hocker's savvy 3:32.54 to take third in the first section, Team USA will have three men in a 1500 final for the first time at the Olympics since 1968 at Mexico City, when silver medalist Jim Ryun, Tom Van Orden, and Marty Liquori took part. Nuguse took the second semi through 400 in 57.3 and then went by the 800m mark at 1:55.7 with five other men including Kessler within a half-second. Entering the backstretch for the final time, Nuguse passed 1200 in 2:50.7 with Britain's Neil Gourley and Kessler right on his heels. His lead was enough to hold off a 27.2 last 200 from Kessler, who moved past Gourley in the final 100. Hocker's semi featured Norway's reigning Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the man that beat him for last summer's world championships title, Josh Kerr of Britain. Ingebrigtsen and Kerr were separated by only a stride at the bell, with Hocker another stride back, and the trio kept those positions through to the finish, with the Norwegian winning in 3:32.38 ahead of Kerr's 3:32.46. An inspired final 20 meters in the second semifinal of the women's 800 gave Juliette Whittaker the edge she needed to finish third and notch a lifetime best of 1:57.76 that gave her a ticket to the final as a time qualifier. A very speedy opening lap didn't break up the field at all, with Britain's Jemma Reekie at the front in 56.7 and Whittaker fourth at 56.9. Whittaker kept pushing it down the backstretch and was in position coming off the final bend, knowing only the top two were assured of a lane in the final. Closing fast, Shafiqua Maloney of St. Vincent chased down Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma, but the Ethiopian won in 1:57.47, with Maloney second in 1:57.59, a national record. Whittaker gave it all she had in the last few strides and edged just ahead of France's Renelle Lamote to take the crucial third position, beating the French woman by .02. Trials champion Nia Akins was fifth at the bell in a slower-paced final heat and she had to jockey for position throughout the next 250 meters. Coming into the stretch run, Akins moved out and tried to move up, clawing her way to fourth, and then ultimately into third, crossing the line in 1:58.20 and just missing on a time qualifier for the final. One of the medal favorites coming into Paris, with a bronze from Tokyo already in hand, Gabby Thomas made the first round of the women's 200 look too easy, cruising to a 22.20 to win heat two and put up the fastest time of the morning. Also an easy winner in heat five, 2019 World Championships silver medalist Brittany Brown had the fifth fastest time overall at 22.38, and double NCAA sprint champion McKenzie Long sailed through her heat to win in 22.55, the eighth best time overall. It wasn't completely smooth sailing for Team USA in the women's 400 hurdles heats, but all three athletes won their heats and recorded the second, third, and fourth fastest times overall. World record holder and reigning champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had a couple minor errors in her 53.60 win in heat five, and her time was matched in heat two by Jasmine Jones. Anna Cockrell was victorious in heat four at 53.91. Dispelling any questions about their readiness, Michael Norman and Quincy Hall were dominant first round winners in the men's 400. Norman, the 2022 world champion and the fifth fastest man in history, looked to be in complete control during a 44.10 season best in heat two. Hall, who leads the U.S. list this year at 43.80 and is the ninth fastest American ever, pulled away at the end of heat four to win in 44.28. Chris Bailey made it a hat trick of U.S. advancers with his runner-up 44.89 run in heat two. As expected, three-time world champion and Tokyo silver medalist Grant Holloway looked the best of all men in the 110 hurdle heats, taking the fifth section in 13.01, the fastest time overall by .21 seconds. It was the fastest time ever in the first round at the Games. Daniel Roberts advanced to the semifinal with a third-place 13.43 in heat three, but Freddie Crittenden will need to go through the repechage round after an 18.27 in his heat. Crittenden cited a nagging adductor injury for his performance. Two of three U.S. women's entrants in the 3000m steeplechase advanced to the final, led by Courtney Wayment, who clocked 9:10.72 to take fourth in heat one and record the fourth fastest time out of all three heats. Trials champion Valerie Constien was third in her heat at 9:16.33 to easily move on, but Marisa Howard's 9:24.78 in the final heat left her out of the final. DeAnna Price and Annette Echikunwoke had the third- and fourth-best throws in the women's hammer qualifying round to nab berths in the final. Price, the American record holder and 2019 world champion, went 73.79/242-1 on her second try to hit the automatic standard, while Echikunwoke nailed it on her first throw with a 73.52/241-2 effort. Erin Reese missed the final by two places, taking 14th at 70.23/230-5. For the first time since Beijing 2008, the U.S. will not have a representative in the men's long jump final. Jeremiah Davis was the top American finisher with a 7.83/25-8.25 for 15th, with Malcolm Clemons 21st at 7.72/25-4 and Jarrion Lawson fouling three times. The quality of the competition was poor across the board with only six men bettering 8.00/26-3 and two meeting the automatic standard of 8.15/26-9, led by Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou at 8.32/27-3.75.