Noah Lyles has emerged as one of the standout athletes among Team USA’s men’s track and field team, often for reasons that some observers find unsavory. The legend of Noah Lyles will continue to grow after he managed to snag a bronze medal in the men’s 200-meter event while testing positive for COVID-19 before the race
Noah Lyles, 27, finished third overall in the Thursday 200-meter final and as the race concluded, the controversial athlete shared with a throng of reporters that he took on the race while suffering from COVID-19.
“I tested positive around 5 AM Tuesday morning,” Lyles said at a postrace media event while donning a mask. “I woke up in the middle of the night just feeling really chills, aching, sore throat. And those were kind of a lot of the symptoms I’ve always had right before getting COVID, and I was just like, ‘I need to test this one.’”
Lyles said he quarantined away from Olympic Village at a nearby Paris hotel and took whatever allowable medications he could.
“I still wanted to run; they said it was still possible,” Lyles shared. “So we just stayed away from everybody and just tried to take it round by round. And to be honest, I knew if I wanted to come out here and win, I had to give everything I had from the get-go. I didn’t have any time to save energy.”
Lyles added, “One, we didn’t want everybody to go into a panic; we wanted them to be able to compete,” Lyles said. “And then two, we wanted to be able to make it as discreet as possible. And you never want to tell your competitors you’re sick. Why would you give them an edge over you?”
At the event, Lyles wasn’t certain if he would show up to be a part of the 4X100-meter relay event but it appears that he’s shutting down his Summer Olympics appearances after a reply shared on the X platform pointed to that fact.
“First I want to thank God for getting me through this entire Olympics! Second I want to congratulate @LetsileTebogo3 @kenny_bednarek and everyone else on an amazing Olympic 200m final. Finally I want to thank everyone for the supportive messages. I believe this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics. It is not the Olympics I dreamed of but it has left me with so much Joy in my heart. I hope everyone enjoyed the show. Whether you were rooting for me or against me, you have to admit you watched, didn’t you? See you next time Sincerely, Your world’s fastest man for the next 4 years!” Lyles wrote on X.
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana went on to capture his country’s first gold medal ever in the Olympics, while American runner Kenny Bednarek earned his second silver medal of the Summer Games. In a postrace presser, Tebogo mentioned Lyles after he was asked if he was positioning himself to become a star in the track and field world.
“I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah [Lyles],” with Bednarek looking on.
[h/t ESPN]
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Photo: Getty