Noah Lyles Takes Bronze In 200m After Testing Positive For COVID

Noah Lyles was crowned the World's Fastest Man last week at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in one of the closest races in Olympic history.

READ: Noah Lyles Captures Olympic Gold Medal For USA In Unreal Photo Finish During 100M Race

But the 200meter event was a different story. Lyles didn't get off to a great start, but picked up the pace in the middle part of the race. He wasn't able to catch up to Letsile Tebogo from Botswana however, and finished a disappointing third.

After the race though, he had an explanation for his underwhelming performance: he has COVID. Except…his entrance to the 200meter event sure didn't seem like he was suffering too many ill effects.

Seemingly overwhelmed by the 20 seconds of exertion though, Lyles was then taken off the track in a wheelchair.

Still, the media's obsessive assertions that coming down with COVID required strict isolation and would clearly hamper performances took a major hit Thursday. As it has for the entire Olympics.

READ: Is COVID Officially Over? Olympians Have Tested Positive And Still Competed, As They Should

PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 08: Bronze medalist Noah Lyles of Team United States shows his dejection while is assisted by medical staff after competing in the Men's 200m Final on day thirteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 08, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Noah Lyles Talks Positive COVID Test

After the race, Lyles spoke to NBC, while dutifully and pointlessly wearing a mask, and discussed when he found out and how he dealt with it. 

"I woke up early, about 5am on Tuesday morning and I just was feeling really horrible," Lyles said on the broadcast. "I knew it was more than just being sore from the 100. I woke up the doctors, and we tested and unfortunately, it came up that I was positive for COVID. And my first thought was not to panic. I was thinking 'I've been in worse situations. I've run with worse conditions, I felt.' We just took it day by day. I tried to hydrate as much. Quarantine. It's taken its toll for sure. I've never been more proud of myself for being able to come out here and get a bronze medal."

When asked if he'd considered not running in the 200 meter event, he said, "No. No. I didn't."

As far as the running the 4x100 relay, Lyles wasn't sure, but seemed to be leaning towards sitting it out. 

"At the moment I don't know," Lyles said. "I'm feeling more on the side of letting Team USA do their thing. They've proven with great certainty they can handle it without me. And if that's the case coming off of today, I'm perfectly fine, saying ‘you guys go do your thing. You guys have more than enough speed to be able to handle it and get the gold medal.'"

It does seem a bit odd that Lyles would be jumping around before the race, if he felt that bad, and that he'd still secure a bronze medal in a very competitive race. With the 4x100 final on Friday, he won't have much time to get better. Though maybe he'd have sped the process up if he hadn't expended so much energy hyping up the crowd.