American sprinter Noah Lyles uncertain about running 4x100 meter relay after Covid diagnosis

One of the brighter stars for Team USA in Paris for the 2024 Olympics is sprinter Noah Lyles. Already the champion in the 100 meter dash, Lyles was pegged as the favorite to win the 200 meter finals on Thursday.

Instead, a somewhat disappointing finishing in third place for bronze left Lyles looking physically defeated. He was eventually taken from the track in a wheelchair and confirmed to NBC a report that he had caught Covid-19 a few days prior.

And though skipping out on the 200 meter final was never a consideration for Lyles, he admitted being part of the 4×100 meter relay team might not be tenable.

“At the moment, I don’t know,” Lyles said on NBC after the 200 meter final. “Right now 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. If that’s the case coming off today, then I’m perfectly fine saying, ‘Hey, you guys go do your thing. You guys have got more than enough speed to handle it and get the gold medal.'”

The men’s 4×100 relay final is slated for around 1:45 p.m. EST on Friday.

More on Lyles’ Covid diagnosis

Speaking shortly after the race, Lyles explained his thought process going into Thursday’s race and how he didn’t consider not running.

“No. No. I didn’t,” Lyles told NBC reporter Lewis Johnson. “We were just going to try and quarantine as much as possible, stay away. Not trying to pass it off and just, to be honest, give it my all. If I wasn’t to make it, somebody definitely would have taken my spot and that would have been my sign that I didn’t deserve to be in the final.”

As it was, Lyles finished in third, good enough for the bronze medal. He remarked after that he’s never been more proud of himself, given the circumstances.

Lyles explained when he found out he had COVID-19.

“Yeah, I woke up early, about 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and I was feeling really horrible then,” Lyles said. “I knew it was more than just being sore from the 100. We woke up the doctors and we tested and unfortunately it came up that I was positive for COVID.

“My first thought was not to panic. I was thinking I’ve been in worse situations, I’ve run with worse conditions I felt and we just took it day by day, tried to hydrate as much, quarantined off. I’d definitely say that it’s taken its toll for sure, but I’ve never been more proud of myself for being able to come out here and getting a bronze medal where last Olympics I was very disappointed, and this time I couldn’t be more proud.”