The battle for post-Bolt supremacy will be decided in Paris
Usain Bolt fittingly led off the latest chapter of theScore's Eras project, which overviewed the mammoth achievements of 25 star Olympians of the current century.
The list of 25 wasn't ranked, but if it was, Bolt might have owned the top spot. The Jamaican sprinter's clean sweep of three major races from 2008 through 2016 - the men's 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay - netted him eight Olympic gold medals, with a ninth stripped due to a teammate's doping.
Bolt's swagger charmed the masses. His conquests were inevitable, and his dominance on the track remains untouched. World records in the 100m (9.58 seconds) and 200m (19.19 seconds) that Bolt set 15 years ago haven't been threatened. Until memories of him fade, successors will compete to be second-best.
That designation - the era's next most decorated sprinter - is up for grabs in Paris. Myriad medal contenders, headlined by an American and a Canadian, are about to battle for post-Bolt supremacy. They could lessen the vast distance between Bolt and the world by performing historic acts at the Stade de France.
U.S. fans expect Noah Lyles to become the fourth man since the 1960s - following Bolt, Carl Lewis, and Valeriy Borzov - to win the rare 100m-200m double. He dominated those races and added gold in the relay at last year's world championships in Budapest. Collecting that haul at the Olympics would make Lyles the face of the Games.
Blunt and loudly confident, Lyles promised Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show" that the late-night host could "make a lot of money" by backing him in Paris. Lyles is a 200m whiz, having triumphed at three straight world championships, and raised his 100m personal best to 9.81 seconds in his final Olympic tuneup.
Canada's Andre De Grasse, the reigning Olympic 200m champion, is a multi-time medalist in all three sprints. Should De Grasse snare another individual medal in France, he'll move into sole possession of second place on the career leaderboard.
Lithe and clutch, the 29-year-old De Grasse has dealt with frequent injuries yet consistently peaks in Olympic years, running his fastest when the lights brighten. He's medaled in every Olympic race he's entered by gaining enough steam to slingshot into the top three. No sprinter in Paris is as accomplished, but De Grasse slipped to 17th place in the world 100m rankings and fifth in the 200m rankings following his glorious Tokyo Games.
Other contenders to watch include the stars of the Tokyo 100m. The victorious Italian, Marcell Jacobs, and American runner-up Fred Kerley can enhance their legacies by returning to the podium. Another Tokyo medallist, Kenny Bednarek, pushed Lyles at June's U.S. trials with personal bests in the 100m (9.87 seconds) and 200m (19.59).
Rising challengers from around the globe also seek their Olympic breakthrough. Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, a double threat, won 100m silver and 200m bronze at the 2023 worlds. The U.S.'s Erriyon Knighton was the Budapest meet's 200m runner-up. Two Jamaicans (Kishane Thompson, Oblique Seville) and a Kenyan (Ferdinand Omanyala) recently laid down some of this season's fastest 100m times, proving they can match Lyles' burst.
The tenacity of veteran Olympians will be put to the test. South Africa's Akani Simbine missed the last two 100m podiums by tiny margins: 0.03 and 0.04 seconds. Zharnel Hughes, the British 100m and 200m record holder, hopes for better luck than he experienced in 2016 (sidelined with knee injury) and 2021 (false start and a relay mate's doping disqualified him from multiple finals).
Bolt stands alone, but someone in Paris will inch closer to his echelon. The question is who.
Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.