Noah Lyles won a bronze medal in the men’s 200-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Saint-Denis, France, marking his second consecutive Olympic bronze in this event. Shortly after the race on Thursday night, it was revealed that Lyles had tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Lyles had expressed confidence about his performance leading up to the final, stating, “I’ll be winning.” However, he was unable to outperform Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, who set an African record with a time of 19.46 seconds to take the gold. American sprinter Kenny Bednarek secured the silver medal with a time of 19.62 seconds, while Lyles finished in 19.70 seconds.
After crossing the finish line, Lyles lay on the track in disbelief before being assisted by medical staff. He was seen wearing a mask and was wheeled away for treatment shortly after the race. There was initial uncertainty regarding his health status, but Lyles’ mother confirmed the COVID-19 diagnosis.
Lyles did not attend the media mixed zone after Wednesday’s semifinal, where he finished second to Tebogo, and went directly to medical assistance. During the final, all eight competitors had a fair start, but Lyles fell behind as Tebogo and Bednarek began to pull away after the 100-meter mark.
In addition to the bronze medal, Lyles received a yellow card for violating Technical Rule 7.1 due to “improper conduct” during introductions, where he animatedly jumped onto the track as his name was called and struck the speaker box in his lane, causing its number to fall off. Lyles’ performance in the 200 meters followed his personal best of 9.79 seconds in the closely contested 100-meter final earlier in the week.