Noah Lyles stunned global Olympic audiences on Thursday as the heavy 200m favorite slumped off the starting block and finished in third place at the Stade de France .
The self-proclaimed "fastest man in the world's" underwhelming performance quickly made more sense after the Team USA star announced that he'd tested positive for COVID-19 , a revelation that alarmed many international onlookers but proved insignificant to Lyles' peers on the purple Parisian track.
"I don't care," said Lyles' compatriots Kenny Bednarek, who claimed the silver medal. "If I get sick or whatever, I'll be fine. I don’t view those things as a big deal ... I do everything I can to make sure my body's healthy. So it doesn’t really bother me at all."
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Lyles entered the race as an overwhelming -500 favorite, per DraftKings, his COVID-related struggles opened the door for his primary challenger Letsile Tebogo. The Botswanan sprinter set a continental record in Thursday's event and secured the southern African nation's first-ever Olympic gold medal, also expressing indifference toward Lyles' diagnosis. "I don’t know he put anyone at risk…" Tebogo said. "We are Africans. We are strong".
Lyles had captivated world audiences four days earlier in the 100m where, despite lingering in seventh at the halfway point, he enjoyed a tremendous late surge and pipped Jamaica's Kishane Thompson to the gold medal by just five-thousandths of a second. With his preferred 200m event on the horizon, Lyles had the opportunity to become the first man since Usain Bolt, and the first American since Carl Lewis in 1984, to win the "double" in both events.
However, US Track and Field revealed after the 200m race that Lyles had tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, particularly inhibitive for the American sprinter who has long struggled with asthma. He ultimately collapsed onto the track after his attempt at the French National Stadium and was ultimately escorted out of the venue in a wheelchair.
“I woke up early, about 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and I just was feeling really horrible," Lyles said about his COVID-19 diagnosis. "I knew it was more than just being sore from the 100,” Lyles told NBC. “Woke up the doctors and we tested and unfortunately it came up that I was positive for COVID.
“My first thought was not to panic, thinking I’ve been in worse situations. I’ve run with worse conditions, I felt. We just took it day by day, trying to hydrate as much, quarantined off and I’d definitely say that it’s taken its toll for sure but I’ve never been more proud of myself for being able to come out here and getting a bronze medal. Last Olympics I was very disappointed and this time I couldn’t be more proud.”
Despite his decision to compete in Thursday's event, it appears that Lyles will not feature as scheduled in the 4x100 relay Friday night, writing on Instagram: "I believe that this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics."
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