Paris Olympics: US’ Noah Lyles hushed up Covid positive to avoid giving ‘edge’ to rivals
- ‘We were trying to get me on as much medication as we legally could,’ American says of decision to run after diagnosis on Tuesday
Noah Lyles said he kept a Covid-19 diagnosis under wraps to avoid gifting a psychological edge to his Olympic 200 metres rivals in Paris.
After finishing third in Thursday’s final, behind winner Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and fellow American Kenny Bednarek, Lyles left the track in a wheelchair.
Later, the 27-year-old spoke in the bowels of the Stade de France, wearing a black surgical mask. “I do have Covid, I tested positive around 5am on Tuesday,” he said.
“I woke up in the middle of the night feeling chills, aching and a sore throat. Those were a lot of the symptoms I’ve had right before getting Covid. I [knew] I needed to test this one and … it came back positive.”
Lyles, who won 100m gold last Sunday, revealed he promptly transferred from the Olympic Village, where a number of athletes have contracted Covid during the Games, to isolate at a nearby hotel.
