'I felt so accomplished'- Noah Lyles reveals why his 200m bronze at the Olympics is one of his favourite medals

'I felt so accomplished'- Noah Lyles reveals why his 200m bronze at the Olympics is one of his favourite medals

Abigael Wafula 18:52 - 30.09.2024

Noah Lyles considers his 200m bronze medal from the Paris Olympics one of his favourites despite the disappointment of not winning gold in his specialty as he did it against the odds.

Triple world 200m champion Noah Lyles has explained why his 200m bronze medal from the Paris Olympic Games remains one of his favourite medals.

Noah Lyles was hugely favoured to win the race but ended up finishing distant third behind Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek who finished first and second respectively. He later admitted to having tested positive for COVID and therefore did not compete in his great shape.

In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Noah Lyles explained that despite finishing third, he felt like he had accomplished a mission and did not beat himself up or doubt his abilities. He was aware people were going to talk but he shut all the negativity out.

“It’s probably one of my favourites. It’s so crazy. In the last Olympics, I got bronze and I was so defeated and then this year I grabbed the gold in the 100m but again grabbed the bronze in the 200-meter and that was the hardest medal I ever had to fight for. I felt so accomplished because I felt like it was only something that I could truly do,” Noah Lyles shared.

He claimed that before the 200m, he was not feeling okay fully but he knew that despite that, he was going to show up for the race and put his best foot forward. He was also cautious to make sure he did not ruin any other athletes’ Olympic Games while making his dream come true.

The Olympic 100m champion added that the decision to run despite his status was to avoid doubts in the future and also inspire young athletes to always show up no matter the situation. He did not want to make an excuse out of the situation not to run and decided to step on the track for the 200m final.

“I knew I wasn’t 100 per cent. I knew I was going into an uphill battle. Despite that, I was going to try anyway because tomorrow is never promised. While trying to make sure everyone else’s Olympic moment was not ruined, I decided that I was going to go out there and protect myself and them and give it my all,” Noah Lyles said.

“If I look back now I would have always said ‘what if.’ I would have always thought about ‘why didn’t I try,’ or ‘why didn’t I fight harder,’ because it was hard or because I was scared. People say once you get sick you have an excuse. I don’t want an excuse.

“I want to be able to put my best foot forward. Maybe there’s going to be someone out there who also catches COVID-19 at the Olympics and they’re going to think it’s over. But because they saw my story they decided to fight through this. And maybe they’ll be better than me and get gold.”

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