Noah Lyles Tested Positive for COVID Before 200 Meters

Noah Lyles was up against more than the usual field when he competed in the 200-meter final Thursday night at the Paris Olympics. After the race, Lyles said he awoke early Tuesday feeling horrible. "I knew it was more than just being sore" from an earlier race, he said. So the US sprinter woke up doctors and asked to be tested. The result was positive for COVID, he said, per CNN. "My first thought was not to panic, you know, I'm thinking I've been in worse situations," Lyles told NBC. "I've run with worse conditions, I felt." He competed anyway, finishing third in his signature event—a result that would be a bitter disappointment in other circumstances.

Instead, Lyles said afterward, "I've never been more proud of myself for being able to come out here and getting a bronze medal." After finishing behind Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and American Kenny Bednarek, Lyles fell to the track until he was helped by medical personnel. After receiving attention, he was taken off the track in a wheelchair. Despite the billing as a post-pandemic Olympics, COVID has affected the event, per USA Today. At least 40 athletes have tested positive so far, a World Health Organization representative said this week. "I was quite light-headed after that race," Lyles told reporters later, adding, "I'm a lot better now." (Lyles' race Sunday had a photo finish.)