Oblique Seville has restored Jamaica’s place at the top of sprinting after a breathtaking run to claim gold in the men’s 100m final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The 24-year-old, long seen as a talent just outside the medals, stormed through in the final metres to clock 9.77 seconds, a personal best and the fastest performance of his career.
In doing so, he denied compatriot Kishane Thompson, who led for most of the race but had to settle for silver in 9.82. Olympic champion Noah Lyles, who has battled injuries all year, finished with bronze in 9.89.
The race carried all the drama fans hoped for, even before the gun went off. A stunned 60,000 crowd saw Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, the reigning Olympic 200m champion, disqualified for a false start.
Once the field settled, Thompson flew out of the blocks while Lyles and Seville gave chase.
For most of the race it looked as though Thompson would finally secure the gold that has eluded him, but Seville’s late drive was irresistible. In the closing strides, with Usain Bolt himself cheering from the stands, he swept past to deliver Jamaica’s first global 100m title since Bolt in 2016.
“I feel really amazing and excited that the gold is coming home to Jamaica,” Seville said afterwards. “I have proved that I am a true competitor, that I have the determination of a champion.”
Speaking about the improvements that made the difference this season, he added, “Finishing strong in the last 30 to 40 metres was something I was struggling with… now I have perfected it. I knew if I had a strong finish, the others would not catch me”.
For Seville, the moment was the culmination of years of near-misses. He finished fourth at both the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, the latter despite running 9.88, the same time as the silver and bronze medalists.
At the Paris Olympics in 2024, he ran the fastest semifinal time but tore his hamstring in the final, limping across the line last. Those experiences, he said, taught him the mental side of sprinting. “Track and field is both mental and physical… to be honest, I think I have mastered the mental part of it.”
The victory was made all the sweeter by who was watching. Seville has trained under Bolt’s longtime coach Glen Mills at Racers Track Club since he was a teenager, and to achieve his breakthrough with Bolt in the stands carried special weight.
“It was a pleasure to have Usain watching me,” he said. “His coach is my coach and I know that both of them are very proud of me right now. They were telling me I was going to be the world champion. And I have proved, in front of him, that I am.”
For Thompson, silver was another sign of consistency after last year’s Olympic silver. He admitted frustration at not holding on, but pointed to progress.
“I wanted to win… but when it came to the last five metres, I saw Oblique was moving. And then I was like, ‘Oh’.” Lyles, meanwhile, was upbeat despite losing the crown he had carried into Tokyo.
“Getting injured in the middle of the season was not part of my plan,” he said. “I came to the world championships with only four races over 100m under my belt. Even in the final I was able to run my season’s best, and I will never be disappointed with that.”
For Jamaica, though, the story was clear, the 100m gold is coming home. Nearly a decade after Bolt’s last global title, Seville now carries the mantle as the sport’s new standard-bearer. And on this night in Tokyo, with the stadium steaming and the world watching, he looked every bit the fastest man alive.
