Jamaican track legend Asafa Powell heaped praise on Noah Lyles and explained the secret to American’s explosive sprint times.

Lyles claimed his first-ever Olympic gold medal this summer in the men’s 100m final at the Paris Olympics.

Noah Lyles was victorious in Paris this summer to claim his first ever Olympic gold medalGetty

The 27-year-old edged ahead of closest rival Kishane Thompson and a star-studded line up at the Stade de France to clock a winning time of 9.79 seconds.

It was far from plain sailing for Lyles who trailed for much of the race but his power in the second-half of the race was enough to see him through.

With pressure emanating from all sides and Thompson, Fred Kurley and Oblique Seville all hell-bent on creating their own piece of history, Lyles dipped at the perfect time to claim the medal he had been tipped to win before the games.

Powell, a long-time rival of the legendary Usain Bolt, was happy to see Lyles realise his Olympic dream and praised him for the way he uses the energy from both the crowd and his competitors to his advantage.

“You guys cannot count out Noah Lyles because Noah feeds off people’s energy and speed,” Powell said on his YouTube channel titled, The Powells.

“If the race was 9.75, he would have run 9.75 as well. He runs as fast as the races. If you run 9.69, he is gonna run 9.69 with you. He is gonna feed off that energy. You can never count Noah Lyles out. He always backs up what he says.”

Powell also reserved praise for fellow Jamaican Thompson who did himself justice on his first Olympic outing.

“Congrats to Noah Lyles and Kishane. 9.79, Olympic final, silver medal—big things guys. I know Jamaica wanted the gold, but celebrate the silver medal because it is not the end. We have a long way to go, so cheer him on,” he added.

The future of sprinting appears to be in safe hands and for Thompson, his time will undoubtedly come, having shown incredible promise at the age of just 23.

Asafa Powell (centre) broke the world record twice during his sprint career

GettyLyles pipped Thompson to the line in Paris to claim Olympic glory in the men’s 100m[/caption]

Powell reserved huge praise for Thompson at what was his first Olympic gamesGetty

But Lyles is on top of the world and remains the man to beat. It is a difficult ask for his opponents who know that his ability to feed off energy makes him a tougher nut to crack on the big stage.

Few know the demands of performing in high-stakes races than Powell who set the world record on two occasions with times of 9.77 an 9.74 seconds.

Powell missed out on Olympic glory during his career but made history by going sub-10 seconds on an incredible 97 occasions – the most in history.

His personal best of 9.72 seconds puts him fourth on the all-time list of 100m athletes.