Paris Olympics Gold medal winner unleashes a Dragon ball Z pose in celebration 

In an extremely tense photo finish, American athlete Noah Lyles won the gold medal for the Men’s 100 meters at the Paris Olympics on August 5, beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five thousandth’s of a second. 

However, not only is Noah Lyles an Olympic medalist and six-time world champion in track-and-field, but he is also a self-confessed fan of Japanese anime, particularly Dragon Ball. Watchers of yesterday’s race will have noticed that Lyles did an iconic pose upon winning- the kamehameha fireball-shooting stance of Goku’s from Dragon Ball Z. 

Back in March, the athlete posted a touching tribute to the late Dragon Ball Z creator Akira Toriyama on Instagram. Lyles explained that he is inspired by Dragon Ball Z’s Goku in many ways- right down to dying his hair different colors like the main character. “This is the great effect that the creation of Akira Toriyama has had on my life.” 

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A post shared by Noah Lyles (@nojo18)

He has also been known to take out his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and show them to the camera, as seen during the US Olympic trials for the 100 and 200m.