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SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles’ historic bid for an Olympic sprint double ended in a humiliating defeat.
The world’s most unbeatable 200-meter runner, the man who just four days ago insisted he would leave his rivals “depressed” as he came out of the bend, lost his most important race.
Lyles didn’t appear to be in his usual stride from the start of the men’s 200-meter Olympic final on Thursday night. The American fell behind early and struggled to make up ground as he rounded the bend, leaving him too far behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo to catch before they reached the finish line.
Tebogo won in 19.46 seconds. American Kenny Bednarek took silver in 19.62. Lyles settled for bronze in 19.70, well short of his personal best and even further away from Usain Bolt’s world record, which he had aspired to break.
After the race ended, Lyles was on the track and appeared to be receiving medical attention. After a few minutes, he was taken off the track in a wheelchair. In the bowels of the Stade de France, Lyles’ mother was seen running through a hallway.
Multiple reports indicate that Lyles, who suffers from asthma, was diagnosed with COVID on Tuesday. Ahead of his 200 preliminary on Wednesday and the final on Thursday, Lyles was seen wearing a mask.
In retrospect, the first sign that something was amiss came that Wednesday heat when he finished second to Tebogo. He then skipped the post-race mixed zone interview session. According to USA Track & Field, he “went straight to medical.”
Lyles had hoped to become the first American man to complete the Olympic sprint double since Carl Lewis 40 years ago. He appeared well on his way after winning the closest 100 meters in Olympic history on Sunday night, diving at the finish line to beat Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five thousandths of a second.
Lyle was expected to win the 200. It’s his specialty, his first love, the event that comes most naturally to him.
The 100 punishes Lyles because he struggles to get out of the starting blocks as quickly as other world-class sprinters. He has spent years tinkering with his start endlessly, trying to find a way to stay within 30 meters without sacrificing his ability to reach and maintain maximum speed.
The 200 lessens the impact of Lyles’ mediocre starts and highlights the qualities that make him special. The two-time reigning 200 world champion maintains his speed as well as any sprinter since Usain Bolt, typically allowing him to swallow up everyone in front of him as he rounds the corner and sprints toward the finish line.
When asked after the 100 meters on Sunday how confident he was of winning the men’s 200 meters, Lyles grinned and said, “Pretty confident, I can’t lie.”
That was before the reported COVID diagnosis.
On Thursday he got off to a good start, making contact with Tebogo and Bednarek at the corner, but lacked his trademark ability to overtake and pass for the rest of the race.
Lyles was expected to compete in the final of the U.S. men’s 4×100-meter relay on Friday. Now, that race is in serious doubt for him.
