The world of athletics was shaken when American sprinter Noah Lyles recently announced that his 2024 Paris Olympics dreams have come to an abrupt end after Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo beat him in the 200-meter race to win gold. Also, Lyles, backing out of the competition is on the heels of testing positive for COVID-19.
He took to his Instagram page and announced the end of his Paris Olympics dreams;
“First I want to thank God for getting me through this entire Olympics! Second I want to congratulate @tebogo_letsile_ , @kenny_bednarek and everyone else on an amazing Olympic 200m final. Finally I want to thank everyone for the supportive messages. I believe this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics. It is not the Olympic I dreamed of but it has left me with so much Joy in my heart. I hope everyone enjoyed the show. Whether you were rooting for me or against me, you have to admit you watched, didn’t you? 😉
See you next time.”
Lyles‘ post was met with more messages of support as American tennis star Coco Gauff commented ‘unreal’ with a gold medal emoji.
Team USA fencer Miles Chamley-Watson also commented ‘keep being a [star] bruv.’
Earlier in the evening, Lyles had at least left the door open to competing in the 4×100 relay, but admitted he was leaning towards sitting out.
‘At the moment I don’t know, I’m feeling more on the side of letting Team USA do their thing,’ he said. ‘They have proven they can handle it without me.’
Lyles labored to a third-place finish in Thursday’s 200m final before it was revealed that he was battling COVID.
The American sprinter was placed in a wheelchair and looked visibly out of breath following the race.
He later explained to NBC that he woke up on Tuesday morning ‘feeling really horrible.’
‘I knew it was more than being sore from the 100,’ he continued. ‘My first thought was not to panic, I’ve been in worse situations, I’ve been in worse conditions.
‘I took it day by day, tried to hydrate as much. It would say it has taken its toll, for sure, but I have never been more proud of myself coming out here and getting a bronze.’
Track legend Michael Johnson questioned Lyles’ decision to compete with COVID, saying on the BBC: ‘Very bizarre, Covid is still a dangerous disease. It is just bizarre, the whole thing is really weird.
‘There is going to be all of this thing with the Noah haters out there – and he set himself up for it – there are going to be people out there saying it’s not real and he’s faking or whatever.
‘But putting that aside, having Covid and still coming out here and being in close proximity with other people – I know there probably is not a policy I guess at these Games for that – but morally I’m not sure about it.’
Notably, Lyles later said that the other competitors were unaware of his diagnosis: ‘We tried to keep it close to our chest. The medical staff, my coach and my mom knew.
‘We didn’t want everybody to go into a panic. We wanted to be able to compete. We wanted to be able to make it discreet as possible and you don’t want to tell your competitors you are sick. Why would you give them an edge?’
In the meantime, fans and supporters of Noah Lyles can take solace in the knowledge that he is taking the necessary steps to recover and bounce back from this setback. As he bids farewell to his Paris Olympics dreams for now, we can all look forward to the day when we will once again see him grace the track, ready to dazzle us with his electrifying speed and determination. Until then, we wish Noah Lyles a speedy recovery and eagerly anticipate his triumphant return to the world of athletics.
