Noah Lyles' 10-word message to Jamaican rival Kishane Thompson during photo finish wait after 100m Olympics final

US sprinter Noah Lyles stormed to victory in the Men's 100m final at the Paris Olympics last night, but he only beat out Jamaican rival Kishane Thompson by the skin of his teeth.

The 27-year-old, from Florida, came out on top by an extremely slim margin, as only 0.005 seconds set the pair apart.

The highly-anticipated race culminated in a photo finish, as the American was neck and neck with Thompson for the final 10 metres - while the rest of the runners weren't too far behind them either.

Despite getting off to a slow start, Lyles set a new personal best with his incredible time of just 9.784 to win gold, while his Jamaican counterpart, 23, came in with a time of 9.789.

American sprinter Fred Kerley took home the bronze medal with a time of 9.81.

But for viewers watching at home - and the athletes themselves - it was hard to tell who had come out on top at first.

It's not enough for a sprinter just to stretch their leg over the finish line, as it's the first person to get their torso across it which counts, so both Lyles and Thompson weren't too sure who had managed to secure the narrow victory.

The two track and field stars were seen uttering a few words to one another as they intently looked up at the screens in the Olympic stadium while waiting for the official results to flash up.

Lyle and Thompson were seen tensely waiting for the results (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

And if you were wishing you could be a fly on the wall for that tense conversation, you're in luck - as Lyles has explained what he said to his opponent while they waited to find out which one of them had triumphed.

Speaking to Jamaican broadcaster SportsMax TV after his extraordinary win, the American revealed what was running through his mind while sprinting along the track, as well as the details of his chat with Thompson.

Lyles said: "It was a very close race.

"I’m glad I had Oblique Seville next to me because I was like, ‘Yo, I need someone to put that pressure on me early’.

"And then after I passed him I saw Kishane out there I was like, 'Just do what I do, hit my top-end speed, let it work'.

"To be honest, I didn’t know if I had it," the six-time world champion said.

"I leaned, but I didn’t know I had it. Me and Kishane were at the end waiting for our names to come up and I came back and I said, ‘I’ll be honest, man, I think you got that one’.

It was hard to tell who had got their torso over the line first - and even the athletes didn't know (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The athlete added: "But my name came up and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m amazing’."

So rather than slinging trash talk at one another, it was actually more of a mutual pat on the back.

Lyles - who qualified with the third fastest time in the semis, 9.83 - said he somewhat manifested his win in the Men's 100m.

He added: "I’ve waited a long time, I’ve seen Jamaicans dominate the 100m and 200m for so long and I remember growing up saying, ‘When it’s my turn, I’m going to make sure that the US is on top’.

"And here it is, here’s my time, my journey, my moment, it’s such a beautiful thing to see."

The gold medallist will now battle it out in the Men's 200m as well as the 4x100m relay this week - which could see him follow in the footsteps of star sprinter Usain Bolt and bag a treble at the Olympics.