On Aug. 4, United States sprinter Noah Lyles and Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson seemed to tie for gold in the men’s 100-metre final with a time of 9.79. Yet later, Lyles was awarded the gold medal because he beat Thompson by 0.005 of a second (9.784 to 9.789).
Approximately a week prior, German swimmer Melvin Imoudu and Italian swimmer Ludovico Blu Art Viberti took part in a swim-off for the final spot in the men’s 100-metre breaststroke after both athletes tied with a time of 59.38. Imoudu clinched the final spot by a mere 0.21 seconds.
Both the swimmers and runners tied at the hundredth of a second — so why were the runners separated at the thousandth and the swimmers were not?
