Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, USA’s Kenneth Bednarek and USA’s Noah Lyles cross the finish line to finish first, second and third respectively in the Men’s 200m Track and Field Final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north. of Paris, on August 8, 2024.
Odd Andersen | AFP | Getty Images
PARIS – Two days after Noah Lyles said he tested positive for Covid, the American sprinter finished third in the 200m final at the Paris Olympics, unable to catch Olympic gold medalist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana.
Lyles ran 19.70 for bronze, behind Tebogo’s 19.46, which won the first gold medal in Botswana’s history. American Kenny Bednarek won silver in 19.62.
After his positive test, Lyles said he moved to a hotel away from the Olympic Village to self-quarantine and arrived for warm-ups before Wednesday’s semifinal wearing a mask. He said he never thought about not competing in Thursday’s final and purposely did not disclose information about his diagnosis.
“You never want to tell your competitors you’re sick,” he said. “Why would you give them a head start on you?”
Lyles, 27, appeared his usual energetic self when introduced before the final, jumping and sprinting around the track before entering his blocks as a sold-out crowd inside the Stade de France fell silent. Lyles trailed from the start, looking little like the sprinter who had won 26 straight races dating back to 2021 until finishing second in Wednesday’s semifinal — also to Tebogo — and was 38-5 all-time against the other seven sprinter in Thursday’s final.
At the finish line, Lyles collapsed, then stood excitedly asking for water and sat back down on the track. They put him in a wheelchair and threw him down the field. It was a stark contrast to Sunday night, when Lyles won the first Olympic gold medal of his career winning the 100m by five thousandths of a second and then guaranteed to win the 200m as well.
Noah Lyles of the United States reacts after competing in the men’s 200m final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 8, 2024.
Jewel Samad | AFP | Getty Images
Testing positive for COVID “definitely affected my performance,” Lyles said. “But I mean, to be honest, I’m more proud of myself than anything coming out and getting the bronze medal with COVID in three days. It was a wild Olympian.”
In a statement, USA Track and Field said it and the US Olympic Committee followed guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and the International Olympic Committee to “prioritize his health, the well-being of our team and the safety of competitors.”
“Our primary commitment is to ensure the safety of Team USA athletes while supporting their right to compete. After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah has elected to compete tonight. We respect his decision and will continue to monitor his condition closely.” .”
Lyles was trying to become the first man to sweep both sprints at an Olympics since Jamaica’s Usain Bolt in 2016 and the first from the US since Carl Lewis 40 years ago. Winning bronze also ends Lyles’ much-discussed ambition to become the first track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympics since 1984.
He said he’ll let USA Track & Field decide whether he should run on the U.S. 4×100-meter relay team that advanced to Friday’s final with the fastest time in qualifying.
