Noah Lyles is an American track-and-field Olympian. Several days ago, he won the gold medal in the 100-meter at the Paris Olympics. He truly won gold by the smallest of margins in one of the craziest photo-finishes of the games. After winning gold in the 100, Noah then ran the qualifying heats for the 200 meter, and of course he qualified for that as well. On Thursday, he came in third place – a bronze medal – in the 200-meter. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo won gold, and Lyles’ American teammate Kenny Bednarek won silver. This was already considered an “upset” because Lyles talks a big game, and people expected him to deliver once again, like he did in the 100-meter. Instead, right after securing the bronze medal, Noah congratulated some of the runners with hugs and pats, then he collapsed on the track. He was taken off in a wheelchair. NBC’s reporters on the ground scrambled to find out what happened, which is when Noah’s mother told NBC that Noah tested positive for covid… two days before the race.
Noah Lyles’ sprint double quest came up just short. He finished third in the 200 final, clocking in at 19.70 for the bronze medal. Lyles ran despite testing positive for COVID-19. Following the race, Lyles, who has a history of asthma, received medical attention and collapsed into a wheelchair.
“I woke up early about 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and I was feeling really horrible. I knew it was more than being sore from the 100,” Lyles said after the race. “Woke up the doctors and we tested and it came back as positive for COVID. My first thought was not to panic. I’m thinking I’ve been in worse situations. I’ve run with worse conditions, I felt, and we just took it day by day, tried to hydrate as much, quarantined. It’s taken its toll for sure, but I’ve never been more proud of myself to be able to come out here and getting a bronze medal.”
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo led around the curve and sprinted down the home stretch for a surprising comfortable win, running a 19.46. U.S. sprinter Kenny Bednarek captured the silver with a time of 19.62.
Immediately after winning the bronze medal, Lyles needed medical attention. He was taken off the track in a wheelchair and news later broke that he tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the race.
“It definitely affected my performance,” Lyles said after the race, adding that he stayed in an offsite hotel and tried to keep his illness “close to the chest” after testing positive on Tuesday. His teammates and opponents did not know he was sick. Lyles does suffer from asthma, which can make respiratory illnesses worse.
“Why would we give them an edge?” He said when asked about the secrecy, adding they also didn’t want everyone to go into a panic and wanted everyone to be able to compete.
So, it’s really complicated. The Tokyo Olympics were held in the summer of 2021, when the pandemic was still raging and yet vaccines were pretty widely available, especially in Western countries. Instead of instituting a vaccine mandate to get into Tokyo, the IOC spent an insane amount of money testing everyone constantly and enforcing masking and glove protocols. Athletes were supposed to act like they were surrounded by Covid-positive people at all times, and if anyone did test positive, they were basically out of the Olympics. Three years later, none of those covid protocols exist in Paris. It’s a free-for-all and barely anyone is wearing a mask before competitions or within the Olympic Village. I don’t even think anyone is being regularly tested either. I totally understand the “this is an IOC problem, not a Noah Lyles problem” argument. There should have been better protocols in place and that part of it is not on Lyles at all.
That being said, Noah Lyles behaved irresponsibly and that IS on him. While he wore a mask some of the time while he was on site at the Stade de France, he obviously thought it was more important to keep his diagnosis a secret so he could compete, and he thought nothing of possibly infecting other athletes. As I said, after the 200-meter race, Noah was hugging and congratulating some of the other guys. He’s out there, breathing on people. Ugh.
Noah Lyles provides an update on his condition after the 200m final. #ParisOlympics
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— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.