Kishane Thompson — 9.784 seconds

Kishane Thompson clocked 9.77 seconds in June 2024 — the fastest time of the year before the Paris Olympics — and then matched Noah Lyles (#6 on this list) stride-for-stride in the Olympic final, losing gold by the thickness of a fingernail (0.005 seconds). His official 9.784-second Olympic time ranks joint-sixth all-time, making him faster than the average Olympic champion from the past decade (9.82 seconds). At just 23, Thompson's 2024 season average of 9.79 seconds over four races is 0.14 seconds quicker than the typical pre-prime sprinter, suggesting he will dominate the late 2020s. His 9.77-second performance is 0.02 seconds faster than Maurice Greene's (#8) world record from 1999.