Paris Olympics: Wait, what? Noah Lyles reveals being Covid positive after 200m bronze win, out of tournament

After a shocking third finish in the 200m race, USA's Noah Lyles revealed that he tested positive for Covid before his race and, thus, hasbowed out of the Paris Olympics 2024 edition on Thursday (Aug 8). The American made it clear that he is exiting the marquee tournament, in Paris,as he needsmedical attention. Notably, hewas taken off the track ona wheel-chair.

While Lyles ended with a medal, his Olympic journeywould be a bitter pill to swallow as the 27-year-old had set the ambitious goal of winning four golds in this year's Olympics --in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and the 4x400m relay. In addition, this becomes thefirst time in three years when the triple 200m world champion could not win gold in this category.

Lyles toldreporters, "I do have Covid. I tested positive around 5am on Tuesday. I woke up feeling chills, aching, sore throat. Those were a lot of the symptoms I have had before getting Covid. I was like: 'I need to test this one.' It came back positive so we quickly quarantined in a hotel near the village and they got me on as much medication as they legally could to make sure my body was able to keep the momentum going."

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He opined, "I still wanted to run, they said it was still possible so we stayed away from everybody and took it round by round. I have definitely had better days but I am walking around again. I was quite light headed after that race and the chest pain was definitely active. After a while I was able to catch my breath and get my wits about me. I am feeling a lot better now."

In a statement, USA Track & Field said, "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 continue to monitor his condition closely."

Lyles further added, "It (the virus) definitely affected my performance. I had to take a lot of breaks [to receive] fluid.To be honest, I'm more proud of myself than anything. Coming out, getting the bronze medal with covid three days ago, it's been a wild Olympics. He concluded, "We didn't want everybody to go into a panic. We wanted them to be able to compete. And then two, we wanted to be able to make this as discreet as possible. You never want to tell your competitors you're sick. Why would you give them an edge over you?"

The Paris Olympics has no mandatory rules relating to Covid and participation, hence,Lyles was within his rights to feature in the 200m race. However, he will now notbe part of the US quartet in their attempt to win 4x100m relay gold on Friday (Aug 9).