Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles said Thursday he tested positive two days before his bronze medal-winning performance in the men’s 200m final.
Lyles, who had been bidding to complete a 100m-200m double in Paris, was taken off the track in a wheelchair following the men’s 200m final, won by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
The 27-year-old American, who has suffered from asthma in the past, had been seen wearing a surgical mask shortly before Thursday’s 200m final.
However there had been no sign of illness when the American was introduced to the crowd before the race, bounding onto the track and gesticulating with his arms to pump up the crowd.
In an interview with NBC, Lyles said: “I woke up early, about 5:00 am on Tuesday morning and I was feeling really horrible.
“I knew it was more than just being sore from the 100 (metres). We woke up the doctors and we tested and unfortunately, it came up that I was positive for Covid.”
Lyles said the Covid “has taken its toll, for sure.”
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