“It’s going to be fireworks for sure.” When Kishane Thompson used those words to describe his next anticipated clash with Noah Lyles, the track world took notice. The Jamaican sprinter, who now holds the title of sixth-fastest man in history, seemed to be drawing the battle lines for a rematch that fans had been eager to witness since the razor-thin finish in Paris. But just as anticipation started to rise, the latest Diamond League lineup for London has left many puzzled. Thompson is nowhere to be seen.
The 100-meter field of the London Stadium is full of stars. Noah Lyles will be the main act at the event on July 19. He will be joined by Akani Simbine, Letsile Tebogo, Oblique Seville, Ackeem Blake, Zharnel Hughes, Louie Hinchliffe, and Jeremiah Azu. These are experienced competitors. But the fact that Thompson isn’t there, even though he openly said he wanted to race Lyles again, makes it clear that something is wrong. The fight that appeared like it would happen soon now looks like it will never happen.
Thompson has done more than just speak on his ambitions. On June 27, he stormed through the Jamaican trials with a 9.75-second victory, a time that vaulted him into elite company behind only five men in sprinting history. “I’m a very competitive person,” he remarked in Eugene ahead of the Diamond League stop in Oregon. “I might not show it, but when it comes to competing with a phenomenal person… when he’s ready to step back on the track and we meet, it’s going to be fireworks for sure.”
That level of confidence, paired with recent form, only added weight to what many hoped would be a summer showdown. But with Thompson absent from the London entry list and Lyles continuing his buildup toward the World Championships in Tokyo, the calendar offers no clear path for their paths to cross before September. Whether it is due to strategy, recovery, or an undisclosed decision, the decision to skip London has not been clarified.
For now, Lyles will take to the blocks without the man who nearly beat him in Paris by five-thousandths of a second. And as the clock ticks toward the World Championships, the stage remains unset for the rematch that once promised to reignite one of sprinting’s most intriguing rivalries. However, amid their fiery rivalry, the ultimate GOAT of the track has a different opinion on the aspiring legends to be.
Usain Bolt says Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson wouldn’t medal in 2012 Olympics
There are moments in sport when opinion edges into folklore, and Usain Bolt has little patience for revisionist takes. Addressing recent acclaim surrounding the 2024 Olympic 100 metres final, the Jamaican icon made his stance unmistakably clear: no athlete from that race, not even Noah Lyles or Kishane Thompson, would have cracked the medal podium in London 2012.
“Do you guys really think the last 100m was the best one?” Bolt asked, not as a rhetorical flourish, but as a genuine challenge to his fellow guests on the Ready Set Go podcast. Sitting alongside former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green, Bolt questioned the recent tendency to elevate close finishes over the weight of legacy. He made it plain that the 2012 field, featuring the likes of Gatlin, Tyson Gay, and Yohan Blake, was not merely fast but historically dense. “That was the most epic race when it came to legacy,” Bolt said. “You won’t ever replicate that race ever again in life. The top five men in history were in that race.”
He did not linger on metrics or technology. He spoke, rather, of era-defining convergence. “Nobody in that race (2024 final) would have gotten a medal (in the 2012 final),” he said bluntly. “Justin, they wouldn’t have caught you, they’d have been chasing tails.” Gatlin, for his part, did not dispute the claim. “If I’d have lined up with them at that period of time, I would have won that,” he added. For Bolt, it is not about nostalgia. It is about context, and the rare moment when history concentrated its strength into a single starting line.
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