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Noah Lyles, the 100m Olympic champion, finished with a bronze medal in the men’s 200m final after testing positive for Covid-19.
The American was quick out of the blocks and took the bend well but couldn’t maintain his pace as Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo pulled away over the final 50m to finish in a time of 19.46 sec.
Lyles’ US teammate Kenneth Bednarek made a late surge and claimed silver forcing Lyles into third with a time of 19.70sec, well short of his personal best 19.31.
Immediately after the race, the 27-year-old was seen sitting on a chair and he was helped off the track.
Former US Olympic great Michael Johnson challenged the notion of an injury while on punditry duties for the BBC saying: “He certainly isn’t carrying an injury because you can’t do this with an injury, you can’t run 19.70.
“If there’s anything, there’s some sort of illness that has zapped his energy from the ability to actually carry that speed all the way through.”
Shortly afterwards, US Track and Field (USATF) broke the news that the bronze medallist ran the race after testing positive for Covid.
Lyles confirmed the news, saying: “I do have Covid. I tested positive around 5am on Tuesday morning. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling real chills, aching, sore throat, and those were a lot of the symptoms I’ve had right before getting Covid.
“It definitely affected my performance. I’ve had to take a lot of breaks… I was coughing through the night. I’m more proud of myself than anything, coming out here to get a bronze with Covid.
“I’ve had better days, but I’m walking around again. I was quite light-headed after that race. Shortness of breath, chest pain, but after a while I could catch my breath and get my wits about me. I’m a lot better now.”
Lyles revealed he was quarantined in a hotel near the Olympic village after testing positive. “We were trying to keep this close to the chest. The people who knew were the medical staff, coach, my mum. We didn’t want everybody going into a panic, we wanted them to be able to compete. We wanted to make this as free as possible. I’m competitive. Why would you give them an edge over you?”
A USATF statement read: “We can confirm that Noah Lyles tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. In response, the USOPC and USATF swiftly enacted all necessary protocols to prioritize his health, the wellbeing of our team, and the safety of fellow competitors.
“Our primary commitment is to ensure the safety of Team USA athletes while upholding their right to compete. After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah chose to compete tonight. We respect his decision and will continue to monitor his condition closely.
“As an organisation, we are rigorously adhering to... IOC guidelines for respiratory illnesses to prevent the spread of illness among team members, safeguarding their health and performance.”
Lyles was aiming to complete a rare treble of 100m, 200m and 4x100m golds at the same Olympics. Only four men have won the triple at the same Games, and after winning the 100m crown by five thousandths of a second in a dramatic photo fiinish on Monday night, Lyles looked set to join American greats Jesse Owens (1936), Bobby Morrow (1956) and Carl Lewis (1984), as well as Usain Bolt (2012 and 2016), on the list.
But – just like his semi-final the previous night – Lyles came off the bend trailing Tebogo and never caught him.
Tebogo became the first African to win the title – setting an African record – and in doing so claimed Botswana's first Olympic gold medal.
Tebogo, who won bronze at the worlds last year and set a national record of 9.86 when finishing sixth in the Paris 100m final, produced a dominant run to become the fifth-fastest man in history over 200m. Bednarek chased him all the way to take a second successive silver in 19.62 sec.
Lyles and Bednarek were set to team up for the men’s 4x100 relay in which the USA will be strong favourites to win gold and take the crown from Italy, who shocked the world in Tokyo.
But Lyles is now a doubt for that event – with the final on Saturday – as he tries to recover from illness.
“We haven’t decided yet, I’m going to talk to the 4x100m crew,” he said. “I’m going to be very honest and transparent with the coaches, and I’ll let them make the decision. No matter what happens, this 4x100m team can handle everything. I’ve been with them in practice, I know they can come out with a win, break as many records as they put their mind to.”
