Lyles Wins 200m Bronze; COVID Diagnosis Exposed After

Lyles reported that he received a positive test result early Tuesday morning. “I woke up feeling chills, body aches, and a sore throat—classic signs I’ve experienced before with COVID,” he said, speaking through a black KN95 mask in the media zone.

Following his diagnosis, Lyles left the Olympic Village and was quarantined in a nearby hotel. He used medications like Paxlovid that were approved and would not interfere with post-race drug tests, as confirmed by a USA Track & Field representative.

Despite his condition, Lyles was determined to race. “I still wanted to compete, and they said it was possible,” he noted. He chose to keep his illness confidential to avoid alarming others and to prevent giving his competitors any advantage.

Lyles was uncertain about his participation in the 4x100-meter relay scheduled for Friday but expressed confidence in his teammates' ability to succeed without him. He intended to have an honest discussion with the coaches about his participation.

Later on Thursday, Lyles shared on social media, “This might be the end of my 2024 Olympics. It wasn’t the experience I hoped for, but it has brought me immense joy.”

In the 200-meter final, Letsile Tebogo from Botswana won the gold with an African record of 19.46 seconds. Kenny Bednarek from the U.S. took silver with a time of 19.62 seconds. Although Bednarek was content with his second silver medal, he felt he had more to offer.

Tebogo was unaware of Lyles’ COVID-19 status and did not perceive any risk. Bednarek mentioned he wasn’t worried about contracting the virus, feeling well-prepared and healthy.

After finishing, Lyles lay on the track and was quickly attended by medical personnel. He experienced dizziness, shortness of breath, and chest pain, but felt significantly better afterward.

Lyles received a yellow card for breaching Technical Rule 7.1, related to improper conduct before the race. His enthusiastic actions included hitting a speaker box, which caused the number on it to fall off.

This 200-meter performance followed Lyles’ outstanding 9.79-second 100-meter sprint on Sunday, where he won gold in one of the closest finals ever recorded.