Noah Lyles reveals when he contracted COVID-19, impact on 200-meter final, relay availability

A stunning upset in the 200-meter dash on Thursday afternoon was followed by an even more surprising sight post-race: American star Noah Lyles in a wheelchair.

After collapsing to the ground following the race, which Lyles finished in 19.70 to claim the bronze medal, Lyles was tended to by medical personnel.

He was placed into a wheelchair, leaving many wondering what was going on.

Lyles would reveal less than an hour later that he had previously been diagnosed with COVID-19, but that he never had a real thought of withdrawing from the 200-meter final as he looked to match Carl Lewis’ 1984 feat of winning both the 100 and 200.

“No. No. I didn’t,” Noah 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,” Noah 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.”

However, Lyles still has some races in the tank. Whether he’ll be able to run them at this point remains to be seen.

He provided a pretty down-to-earth answer, one that left things up in the air but with the distinct possibility that his Olympic Games might now be done.

“Yeah at the moment I don’t know,” Noah Lyles said. “I’m feeling more on the side of letting Team USA do their thing. They’ve proven with great certainty that 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 more than enough speed to be able to handle it and get the gold medal.'”