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HomeTop NewsParis Olympics: Noah Lyles, running with COVID, upset by Letsile Tebogo in...

Paris Olympics: Noah Lyles, running with COVID, upset by Letsile Tebogo in 200, taken off in wheelchair

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Botswana's Letsile Tebogo (2ndL) crosses the finish line ahead of US' Noah Lyles (R) and US' Kenneth Bednarek (L) to win the men's 200m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 8, 2024. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP) (Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo crosses the finish line ahead of Kenny Bednarek (L) and Noah Lyles to win the men’s 200m final. (Jewel Samad/Getty Images)

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SAINT-DENIS, France — At 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, Noah Lyles woke up with a wicked sore throat, an aching body and the chills.

“Those are the symptoms I’ve always had right before getting COVID,” Lyles said, “so I was like I need to test this one.”

The test came back positive, throwing Lyles’ historic pursuit of an Olympic sprint double into chaos two days before Thursday night’s men’s 200 final. Lyles quarantined in a hotel near the Olympic Village, tried to get as much rest and fluids as he could and took any medication he could without violating anti-doping rules.

The idea of not competing in the 200 never wasn’t something that Lyles seriously considered, especially after he managed to advance to the final by gutting out a second-place finish in his semifinal heat on Wednesday night. Lyles explained that he “still wanted to run” and that doctors gave him permission to try.

Right from the start of Thursday’s final, it was obvious that the world’s most unbeatable 200 runner didn’t have his usual burst. The American fell behind early and struggled to make up ground after rounding the turn, leaving himself too far back Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and fellow American Kenny Bednarek to overtake either of them before they reached the finish line.

Tebogo won in a personal-best 19.46 seconds, 16 hundredths of a second ahead of second-place Bednarek. Lyles settled for bronze in 19.70 seconds, nearly four tenths of a second shy of his personal best and even further away from the Usain Bolt world record that he had aspirations of breaking.

When asked how his illness impacted him during the race, Lyles said, “It definitely affected my performance.”

He added that his girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield, told him Thursday morning that he was “coughing through the night.”

After Thursday’s final, Lyles said he felt “lightheaded” and experienced “shortness of breath” and “chest pain.” He sat on the track and received medical attention before being taken off the track in a wheelchair. In the bowels of Stade de France, Lyle’s mother could be seen running down a hallway.

About an hour later, Lyles, who suffers from asthma, said he was feeling “a lot better.

“I was able to catch my breath and get my wits about me,” he said.

In retrospect, the first sign something wasn’t quite right came in that Wednesday preliminary heat when he finished second to Tebogo. He then skipped the post-race mixed zone interview session. According to USA Track & Field, he went “straight to medical.”

Lyles had hoped to become the first American man to complete the Olympic sprint double since Carl Lewis 40 years ago. He seemed to be well on his way after he won the closest 100 meters in Olympic history on Sunday night, dipping at the finish line to edge Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five thousandths of a second.

Lyle’s was expected to win the 200 going away. It is his specialty, his first love, the event that comes most naturally to him.

The 100 penalizes Lyles for struggling to accelerate out of the blocks as quickly as other world-class sprinters. He has spent years tinkering endlessly with his start in an effort to find a way to remain in striking distance at 30 meters without sacrificing his ability to reach maximum speed and sustain it.

The 200 reduces the impact of Lyles’ mediocre starts and emphasizes the qualities that make him special. The two-time reigning world champion in the 200 holds his speed as well as any sprinter since Usain Bolt, typically enabling him to swallow up anyone in front of him as he rounds the curve and streaks toward the finish line.

When asked Sunday after the 100 how confident he felt about winning the men’s 200, Lyles grinned and said, “Pretty confident, can’t lie.”

That was before the reported COVID diagnosis.

Thursday, he got out of the block fine, rounded the turn in contact with Tebogo and Bednarek, but lacked his signature ability to swallow and pass the field coming down the stretch.

Lyles was expected to be part of the U.S. men’s 4×100-meter relay final on Friday. Now that race is very much in question for him.

“I’ll talk to the coaches,” Lyles said. “To be honest, I want to be very honest and transparent with them. I’m going to let them make the decision.”



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