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Following this backlash and assumptions from fans after Paris 2024 Olympic 200m final, Noah Lyles has come out to clear the air on why he was jumping before his race despite being sick with COVID.
For the first time since his controversial outing after the Paris 2024 Olympic 200m final, Noah Lyles has addressed the situation of his pre-stunts before the race if he was truly sick with COVID.
Lyles, who was diagnosed with Covid was the subject of criticism for competing in the men’s 200m final despite winning a bronze medal for Team USA, with some fans even calling for his arrest on social media platforms like X.
In his normal pre-race ritual, the World and Olympic 100m champion was pumped up, jumping and running before he lined up on the track for the final.
However, surprisingly, he was stunned to the title by Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who became the first male sprinter from Botswana and Africa to win an Olympic 200m Gold medal, while his American teammate Kenny Bednarek scooped the silver medal ahead of him.
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19:55 - 08.08.2024
Paris 2024: Letsile Tebogo upsets Noah Lyles with historic Olympic 200m Gold
Letsile Tebogo outclassed Noah Lyles to win the Paris 2024 Olympic gold medal in the men's 200m event in a new African Record of 19.46s.
Shockingly, immediately after the race, Lyles was seen gasping for air as he collapsed on the track and needed assistance from the medics to stabilize and wheel him out of the track.
The US Track and Field will later confirm that Lyles wasn't 100% okay, and he tested positive for COVID two days before his race but insisted on running.
Because of this, he has been an object of criticism as many believed if he was truly sick, then he shouldn't have been that hyped before his race and his actions were just gimmicks to shy away from losing or giving credit to Tebogo's victory.
Following this backlash and assumptions from fans, Lyles has come out to clear the air. In an interview with Reuters, the 27-year-old American sprinter opened on criticism during his impressive campaign at the Olympics.
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22:25 - 11.08.2024
'One of the scariest moments of my life' - Noah Lyles' mum recalls helpless moment of watching her son gasp for air after 200m final
Following her son's collapse on the track struggling to breathe after Paris 2024 Olympics 200m final, Noah Lyles' mum finally opens up on the helpless situation, which was one of the scariest moments of her life.
"People are like, well, if you were sick, why did you go out there and jump around? If I didn't do that, I wouldn't have been able to encourage myself enough to get excited to run that race," said Lyles.
"I had to go in tricking my mind and my body that I was going to run just as well as any other day as I was going to run that but that's the only stuff a champion would know."
Lyles will later pull out from running the 4x100m relays, which abruptly ended his Olympic quest of winning three medals in Paris.
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