PARIS – Two days after Noah Lyles announced that his Covid test was positive, the American sprinter finished third within the 200-meter final on the Paris Olympics, failing to catch gold medalist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana.
Lyles ran 19.70 seconds to take bronze, behind Tebogo with 19.46 seconds, who won the primary gold medal in Botswana's history. American Kenny Bednarek took silver with 19.62 seconds.
After his positive test, Lyles said he moved to a hotel outside the Olympic Village to quarantine and arrived wearing a mask to warm up before Wednesday's semifinals. He said he never considered not participating in Thursday's final and intentionally didn’t disclose details about his diagnosis.
“You should never tell your competitors that you are sick,” he said. “Why should you give them an advantage over you?”
Lyles, 27, looked energetic as ever when he was introduced before the ultimate, leaping and sprinting down the track before heading to his starting blocks because the sell-out crowd on the Stade de France fell silent. Running from the back from the beginning, Lyles looked little just like the sprinter who has won 26 consecutive races since 2021 until he finished second in Wednesday's semifinal – also behind Tebogo – and had an overall record of 38-5 against the seven other sprinters in Thursday's final.
Lyles collapsed on the finish line, then fastidiously got up, asked for water and sat back down on the track. He was put in a wheelchair and wheeled under the stadium. It was a stark contrast to Sunday night, when Lyles won the primary Olympic gold medal of his profession by winning the 100 meters by five thousandths of a second after which ensuring that he would also win the 200 meters.
The positive COVID test “definitely affected my performance,” Lyles said. “But I mean, to be honest, I'm more proud of myself than anything else for winning the bronze medal in three days despite COVID. It was a wild Olympics.”
In a press release, USA Track & Field said it and the U.S. Olympic Committee had followed guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and the International Olympic Committee to “prioritize his health, the well-being of our team and the safety of fellow competitors.”
“Our primary commitment is to ensure the safety of Team USA athletes while preserving their right to compete. After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah has decided to compete tonight. We respect his decision and will continue to closely monitor his condition.”
Lyles was searching for to turn out to be the primary man since Usain Bolt of Jamaica in 2016 to win each sprints at an Olympic Games, and the primary American since Carl Lewis 40 years ago. With the bronze medal, Lyles also ended his much-discussed ambition to turn out to be the primary athlete since 1984 to win 4 gold medals at a single Olympics.
He said he would let USA Track & Field determine whether he should run on the U.S. 4×100-meter relay team, which qualified for Friday's final with the fastest time within the preliminary heats.
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