Team USA sprinter Noah Lyles placed third in the 200 meter dash on Thursday—despite being the favorite for gold—and announced after the race he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 two days prior.
Lyles, whose best event is usually the 200 meter dash, finished in third with a time of 19.70 seconds, placing behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (19.46 seconds) and Team USA’s Kenny Bednarek (19.62).
He was seen being rolled out in a wheelchair after the race, leading to speculation about his health, and confirmed to NBC Sports shortly after he had a positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday.
Lyles’ first reaction to the positive result was “not to panic,” he told NBC, adding: “I’ve been in worse situations. I’ve run with worse conditions. We just took it day by day.”
Lyles said he never considered not running the race, but noted he quarantined as much as possible and moved out of the Olympic village to a hotel.
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While athletes who competed in Tokyo in 2021 experienced strict COVID-19 protocols—including mandatory tests, mandatory masking when not competing or training, quarantining and the banning of all spectators—Paris was seemingly the opposite. There are no strict protocols or restrictions for COVID-19 in Paris, though Anne Descamps, Paris 2024 chief communications director, told Reuters “any athlete that has tested positive has to wear a mask.” She also said they “remind everyone to follow best practices but in terms of monitoring COVID, cases are quite low in France.” Scientific American also reported officials in Paris dropped past Olympic protocols and were “approaching the disease like other respiratory illnesses,” adding officials were letting athletes and teams determine how best to prevent or respond to infection.
“I’ve never been more proud of myself for being able to come out here,” Lyles told NBC after the race. “And, getting a bronze medal, where last Olympics I was very disappointed … this time I couldn’t be more proud.”
Lyles had been seeking the gold in the 200 meter to be the first American male to complete the Olympic Double—winning gold in both the 100 and 200 meter dash—since 1984.
Lyles, 27, made his Olympic debut in Tokyo, where he earned a bronze medal in the 200 meter race. He was named the world champion in the event in 2019, and won it again in 2022 when he broke Michael Johnson’s 26-year-old record. In addition to his various medals and championships at world competitions, he is only the second man ever to receive the Jesse Owens Award for USA Track & Field’s male athlete of the year three times (2018, 2022, 2023). He is from Gainesville, Florida, and had committed to run track at the University of Florida, but decided to go professional at the last minute and signed an eight-year contract with Adidas in 2016.
Lyles’ availability for the 4×100 meter relay. After Thursday’s race, he said he was “feeling more on the side of letting Team USA do their thing,” adding: “they’ve proven with great certainty that they can handle it without me.”
