Noah Lyles is the new fastest man on the planet this year after sensational finish to 100m

Noah Lyles has set the fastest legal 100 metre time of 2026 - and may have inadvertently taken a major step towards getting close to Usain Bolt's historic record.

The American, who won 100m gold at Paris 2024, matched his personal best by setting a blistering time of 9.79 seconds at the USATF National Championships.

The field was packed with top US sprinters, with Kenny Bednarek and Christian Coleman among the competitors.

Lyles got off to a solid, if not unspectacular, start and fell behind his rivals, but quickly made up the time as the 50-metre distance approached and ultimately finished 0.08 seconds ahead of nearest rival Ronnie Baker.

The time was initially clocked as 9.78 seconds but was rounded up to 9.79.

Remarkably, the times of Baker and Bednarek - who both clocked 9.88 - were the joint fifth-fastest times of the year so far.

You can see his run below:

He is now recognised as the fastest sprinter on the planet this year, beating the time of 9.82 set by Jamaica's Oblique Seville back in June.

Former Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs ran a 9.67 at the Raiffeisen Austrian Open earlier this month in what was the second-fastest time ever recorded over 100 metres, though the wind speed exceeded the legal limit of 2.0m/s.

Bolt still holds the record for the fastest man ever, with his time of 9.58 set in 2009 still nowhere close to being matched.

READ MORE: Marcell Jacobs is the second-fastest man in history over 100m after incredible run

Even more worryingly for Lyles' present-day rivals, though, is the fact that the American still believes he can run much quicker - while his start could also gain him a few hundredths of a second.

"I think I made the, I'm still the world's fastest man statement," he told reporters. "And I think that I was playing around. So I think everybody better tighten up.

"Last Thursday, we did a practice run and I ran a hand time [stopwatch] of a 9.6. So yeah, I knew that 9.7 was coming soon."

Who are the fastest men over 100 metres in 2026?

While Lyles is now clear at the top, he will no doubt be facing a tough test from a host of rivals when the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics comes around.

Behind Seville's 9.82 is the 9.84 set by 21-year-old Nigerian sprinter Kayinsola Ajayi, while Colombia's Ronal Longa - who turned 22 last month - set a time of 9.85 at a meet in Medellin.

Five athletes are then tied for seventh place on a 9.89, including 20-year-old South African Bayanda Walaza and Busang Collen Kebinatshipi, 21, of Botswana.

Fastest legal 100m times this year (wind speed in brackets)

1) Noah Lyles (USA) - 9.79 (+0.8)

2) Oblique Seville (Jamaica) - 9.82 (+0.6)

3) Kayinsola Ajayi (Nigeria) - 9.84 (+0.7)

4) Ronal Longa (Colombia) - 9.85 (+1.5)

5) Ronnie Baker (USA) - 9.88 (+0.8)

5) Kenneth Bednarek (USA) - 9.88 (+0.8)