How bad was Noah Lyles’ fever when he took bronze in the 200m final at the Paris Olympics?
Coach Lance Brauman told The Associated Press that the 100-meter gold medalist had a temperature of 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius). That made the medal, in his final sprint at the Paris Olympics, all the more impressive for Brauman, who described the sprinter’s fitness and future in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday.
Lyles tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and finished third in Thursday’s final, behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and his American teammate Kenneth Bednarek.
“Those guys raced great,” Brauman said. “But to get a bronze medal in 19.70 with a temperature of about 102, that wasn’t too bad.”
Despite his medal win, Lyles received criticism for his race performance on Thursday.
A masked Noah Lyles stands on the podium after winning bronze in the 200-meter final
Team USA’s Noah Lyles is treated by medical personnel after the men’s 200 meters final
“He shouldn’t have raced because he would have polluted the whole track,” wrote one critic on X.
Others were simply impressed by his performance, which won him the bronze medal.
“Noah Lyles ran 19.7 and took bronze with a score of 102,” wrote another fan, adding, “That’s incredible.”
For Brauman, this performance is comparable to that of Lyles, who won gold in the 100 meters on Sunday.
“It’s hard to replace a gold medal in the 100 meters at the Olympics … that was probably the most important medal,” Brauman said. “How did he put it, we talked about it — he’ll get the most satisfaction out of bronze.”
Lyles, 27, was back on the track Friday night wearing a protective mask as he accepted his bronze medal. He walked around the track and waved to fans, but kept his distance from Tebogo and Bednarek.
Lyles ran the men’s 200m final in Paris with Covid, he revealed after the race
There will be other opportunities, Brauman said, because Lyles is still in the prime of his life.
“He’ll be really good in L.A., for sure, and then we’ll see what happens,” Brauman said of the next Olympics in 2028. “I just want him to keep doing what he’s doing.”
Lyles has made no secret of his goal to win three gold medals at this Olympics, like Usain Bolt did on his way to superstardom. He will leave Paris without achieving that goal, but no one will forget the rollercoaster ride he produced: a .005-second win in the 100 meters, followed by a bronze medal while running with COVID.
“I mean, he was sick,” Brauman said. “People are going to say whatever they want, and that’s fine, but the guy was sick.
‘What he had to do to win that medal will be hard to forget.’
Lyles only publicly announced that he had tested positive for the virus after winning bronze at the Paris Olympics on Thursday night. It was the first loss in three years for the American favorite in that event, who was trying to become the first sprinter since Usain Bolt to win the 100 and 200 meters.
Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the USOPC, told The Associated Press on Friday that protocols were in place for Lyles after he tested positive and that he was being closely monitored by USA Track. She said it was up to him to decide whether Lyles would race.
“I feel 100 percent comfortable, especially knowing how much and how good the medical staff was that was paying attention to what was happening,” Hirshland told the AP.
The American had to be driven away in shocking scenes in the moments after the race
She said medical staff followed guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and relied on previous experience treating athletes with the virus.
“We gave Noah as much flexibility in his own choices as we could,” she said. “He had every opportunity to say, ‘I don’t want to compete. I don’t feel good enough to compete, or, I don’t want to compete.’”
When he decided to continue competing, the USOPC and USATF put procedures in place to ensure the safety of Lyles and those around him.
Lyles said after the race that he had quarantined, drank fluids and rested as much as possible in preparation for the event. USATF said in a statement that Lyles had undergone “a thorough medical evaluation” and had elected to compete.
And despite finishing a respectable third while ill, the three-time world champion collapsed, rolled onto his side and gasped for breath. He rolled over onto his hands and knees, then got down on one knee, stabilizing himself with his fist.
He eventually stood up and waddled toward the medics, motioning for a cup of water. He then left in a wheelchair. He wore a mask in the tunnel before the race, and again when he spoke to reporters.
“I think it’s extraordinary that he won a bronze medal when he wasn’t 100 percent. He’s an incredible athlete and he wanted to show that to the world,” Hirshland said. “And he was willing to say, ‘I understand that I have to do things a little differently than I might do,’ out of respect for his own health, but also for other people. I’m not concerned about what happened there. We did it the right way.”
