USA sprinter Noah Lyles was diagnosed with Covid just moments after missing out on the 200m Olympics gold medal on this evening (August 8).
The star athlete still managed to secure a bronze medal, while Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took home the gold.
Lyles had been tipped as the favourite for the 200m following his victory in the 100m final on Sunday evening.
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However, he seemed to struggle to keep up as Tebogo stormed to victory with a time of 19.46s, leaving Kenny Bednarek in second place with a time of 19.62s.
After the race, Lyles was seen embracing his fellow American Bednarek before being whisked away from the track in a wheelchair.
Footage later emerged showing Lyles preparing for the race wearing a surgical face mask, and it was confirmed by USA Track and Field that Lyles had competed while infected with the virus, reports the Express.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Michael Johnson, former Olympic 400m record holder, questioned the 27 year old’s decision to compete. Speaking to the BBC, he said: “Very bizarre. Covid is still a dangerous disease. Kenny Bednarek is a member of the 4x100m relay. It’s just bizarre. The whole thing is really weird.”
He added: “There’s going to be all the Noah haters out there who say it’s not real and he’s faking it or whatever. Putting that aside, having Covid and still being out here in close proximity with other people – I know there’s probably not a policy at these Games for that but morally I’m not sure about it.”
Johnson earlier cast doubts on the athlete’s condition as he said: “He certainly isn’t carrying an injury because you can’t do this with an injury, you can’t run 19.70s.
“If there’s anything, there’s some sort of illness that has zapped his energy from the ability to actually carry that speed all the way through. [The medics] would’ve given him the OK to race, he’s probably not in danger of anything by racing other than being 100 percent and able to perform the way that he would want to.”