Noah Lyles knew he had COVID-19 before Thursday’s race, but now one surprising detail shows exactly what he was dealing with in the 200-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Lyles won the bronze medal in the race despite not only testing positive but also having a 102-degree fever.
“They ran great races,” Brauman said, “but winning the bronze medal in 19.70 seconds with a body temperature of like 102 degrees isn’t too bad.”
“You can’t really replace a gold medal in the 100 meters at the Olympics. That medal was probably the most important one. What he said, we talked about it. He would be most happy with a bronze medal.”
Lyles, who won gold in the 100m final after a photo finish, finished third behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (gold) and fellow U.S. teammate Kenneth Bednarek (silver).
After finishing the 200m race, Lyles collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and was carried away in a wheelchair.
Lyles, 27, wore a face mask as he accepted his bronze medal on Friday.
After the race he said he was “proud” of having fought COVID-19 to win a second medal at the Paris Olympics.
2024 Paris Olympics
“My first thought was, don’t panic, because I’ve been in much worse,” Lyles told NBC after the race. “I felt like I’ve run in much worse and I just took it day by day, staying as hydrated as I could. The quarantine. I’m sure that definitely had an impact, but I’ve never been more proud of myself to come this far and get the bronze medal, after being so disappointed at the last Olympics.” [with a bronze medal]and this time around, I couldn’t be more proud.”
The coach added that Lyles had a great summer game despite having COVID-19.
“I mean, he was sick,” Blauman said. “People can say what they want, and that’s fine, but he was sick.”
“What he had to do to win that medal will be hard to forget.”
Lyles was scheduled to compete in the men’s 4x100m final on Friday but announced his retirement after the 200m race on Thursday.
Without him, the U.S. couldn’t overcome a race filled with errors and missed out on a medal.
The 27-year-old’s two medals and one bronze in the 200m at the Tokyo Games three years ago now give him three Olympic medals.
Brauman said Lyles was preparing to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA.
“At least in Los Angeles he’s going to play really well. We’ll see what happens after that.”
