Noah Lyles Falls Short of Double After Testing Positive for COVID-19

Noah Lyles ran the 200-meter sprint in Paris after testing positive for COVID-19 and settled for bronze in the event for the second straight Olympics.

The U.S. sprinter was trying to become the first man since Usain Bolt in 2016—and the first American since Carl Lewis in 1984—to win the double, the combination of the 100- and 200-meter races, in the Olympics. But he settled for third behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and fellow American Kenny Bednarek. 

Lyles fell to the ground after the race and was surrounded by medical personnel. He tested positive Tuesday, USA Track & Field announced. He reportedly visited medics after his semifinals heat Wednesday.

“I’ve never been more proud of myself for being able to come out here and getting a bronze medal,” Lyles said, in a mask, after the race. 

Lyles finished with a 19.70, nearly four-hundredths back of his own personal best of 19.31, the third-fastest time in history. He still would’ve had his work cut out for him even if he were fully healthy, as Tebogo finished with a 19.46, faster than Lyles’s gold medal time in the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

Chasing History

Even if Lyles won the gold Thursday, it was unlikely he would surpass Bolt’s eight gold medals.

Unfortunately for Lyles, he is running out of time to try to achieve the double in the Olympics, which Bolt did three times in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Lyles will be 31 years old by the 2028 L.A. Olympics, and Bolt was just weeks away from turning 31 when he won his third and final double in Rio.

The American still has other records to strive for, including a fourth world championship in the 200 meters—tying him with Bolt for the most in history—which he can achieve by the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

However, the Olympics showed that Lyles’s competition is deep. The American won a photo finish in the 100-meter race over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson. Tebogo will continue to be a threat—and perhaps win a double himself—as he is only 21 years old and placed silver in the 100-meter event at the 2023 World Championships.

Perhaps more important than a medal tally, Lyles has expressed he wants to break world records. Last year, he posted two target times on social media: 19.10 in the 200 meters, 0.09 seconds faster than Bolt’s world record, and 9.65 in the 100 meters, short of Bolt’s 9.58 world record but faster than anyone else in history.

A Marketing Dream

While the bronze medal adds to his résumé, falling short of the double in the sport’s grandest stage does hamper his ultimate goal of transcending the sport.

“After you get the medals, more and more people gain interest,” Lyles said after winning the double in Budapest. “You can go into fashion, you can go into music. You can start collaborating with people and start meeting bigger and better athletes. From athletes, you go to artists, and from artists, you go to the world.” 

He already expressed he wants his own signature sneaker—a training shoe, not a running spike—after winning the 100 meters Sunday. Bolt has signature sneakers with Puma, and contrary to what Lyles said Sunday, so did U.S. legend Michael Johnson, with Nike. They just didn’t sell well. 

Lyles has been with Adidas since he turned pro in 2016, though it remains to be seen how the brand approaches its partnership with the sprinter after his performance in Paris.