Jamaican sprinter Oblique Seville produced the race of his life to win gold in the men’s 100m final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday, September 14.
With sprint legend Usain Bolt watching from the stands, the 24-year-old surged to the finish line in a personal best of 9.77 seconds, making him the first Jamaican to win the world title in the event since Bolt himself in 2015.
The highly anticipated showdown was billed as a battle between Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson, who won gold and silver, respectively, at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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Drawn side by side in the centre lanes, the pair battled for supremacy on the track, appearing set to relive their rivalry.
But on a humid Tokyo night, Seville stunned both the favourites and the 60,000-strong crowd with a late burst of speed that sealed his first major international championship gold—and the crown of “world’s fastest man”.
Thompson had to settle for silver in 9.82 seconds, while Lyles finished third in 9.89 seconds.
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The final was not without drama. Just moments before the starter’s gun, Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo was sensationally disqualified for a false start, prompting gasps of disbelief from fans inside the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.
When the race eventually got underway, it lived up to every expectation. Thompson looked set to claim gold, but Seville’s perfectly timed finishing surge carried him past his rivals and into Jamaican sprinting history.
At the end of the night, Seville reflected on his breakthrough triumph:
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I feel really amazing and excited that the gold is coming home to Jamaica. I have proved that I am a true competitor, that I have the determination of a champion.
But still, I was panicking; I didn’t know what was going on throughout the semi-final. Finishing strong in the last 30 to 40 metres was something I was struggling with the whole season; I just didn’t recognise it. Now I have perfected it, and I am confident that if I can do it in the final, I will win. I knew if I had a strong finish, the others would not catch me.
Seville’s stunning triumph restores Jamaica’s dominance on the global stage after a decade-long wait since Usain Bolt’s reign. With youth, speed, and growing confidence on his side, the 24-year-old has announced himself to the world, and the future of sprinting may well belong to Oblique Seville.
