SAINT-DENIS, France: The first sign of trouble Thursday night came when Noah Lyles started rounding the curve in the Olympic final of the 200 meters — the sprint that has always been his best race.
Normally at the curve, Lyles starts making up ground, then pulling away from what have been, for the last three years, game but overmatched contenders.
This time, his momentum stalled. Instead of Lyles reeling in the runner two lanes to his right, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, Tebogo pulled farther way. The American favorite, who had gone three years without losing in the 200, labored into the finish and collapsed onto the track after ending up in third.
The insidious specter of COVID, the killer virus that upended the globe four years ago and made the last Olympics part of its collateral damage, struck at the Paris Games, too.
In a bracing reminder that the virus is still very much a factor, even if its deadly fingerprint has been blunted, the world’s marquee sprinter, racing on the world’s biggest sports stage, revealed he had tested positive two days before his shocking, but now not-inexplicable, bronze-medal finish in the 200.
“I still wanted to run,” Lyles said, wearing a mask, as he spoke to reporters, whose mere congregation in a jam-packed scrum underneath the stadium was unthinkable three years ago at the delayed Tokyo Games. “They said it was possible.”
With the blessing of officials at USA Track and Field and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, who said they followed protocol, Lyles did run.
He finished in 19.70. That was .39 off his personal-best, and .24 behind the 21-year-old Tebogo. Lyles’ U.S. teammate Kenny Bednarek finished second, marking the second straight Olympics in which he and Lyles finished 2-3.
“When I saw Kenny fade, I knew Noah was far, far, far away behind us,” Tebogo said. “So that means I’m the Olympic champion.”
It was Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone vs her own world record
An hour after that shock, Americans Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lowered her world record for the sixth time, finishing the 400-meter hurdles in 50.37 seconds for another Olympic blowout.
That was one of three gold medals and eight overall the U.S. won on a night filled with big events.
Tara Davis-Woodhall jumped 7.10 meters to capture the long jump and get in the Olympic win column next to some greats, including Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Brittney Reese.
Grant Holloway cruised to gold in the 110 hurdles, claiming the Olympic title that eluded him three years ago in his only major-championship loss.
Lyles seemed like a sure thing, until things got weird the night before
Coming into Paris, Lyles, the three-time world champion with the American record and the world’s best time of 2024 on his resume, had seemed like as sure a thing in the 200 as any single athlete at track this side of McLaughlin-Levrone.
After opening with a scintillating win in the 100 four nights earlier, he was trying to become the first man to complete the 100-200 double since Usain Bolt did it eight years ago.
A troubling sign, however, came the night before when Lyles finished second in his semifinal heat, also to Tebogo. It marked the first time he had lost a 200-meter race of any sort since his disappointing third-place finish in Tokyo.
He also hurried out of the stadium after that loss and went to the medical tent — a rare occasion when he didn’t stop to talk to reporters. His coach said he was fine.
Lyles said he tested positive two days after the 100 final
Turns out he wasn’t. Lyles said he tested positive early Tuesday morning and quickly got into quarantine.
He drank fluids, rested as much as possible and tried to gear up for the race. USATF said in a statement that Lyles was given “a thorough medical evaluation” and chose to compete.
“We respect his decision and will continue to monitor his condition closely,” the statement said.
The scene after the race was jarring. Usually one of the most energetic guys on the track, both before and after any sprint, Lyles collapsed, rolled onto his side and gasped for breath. He turned over on his hands and knees, then went to one knee, and balanced himself with his fist.
He finally stood up and wobbled toward the medics, signaling for a cup of water. Then, he left in a wheelchair.
“It definitely was an effect,” Lyles said. “But I mean, to be honest, I’m more proud of myself than anything for coming out and getting the bronze medal with COVID.”
This bronze medal feels different than the last one
It will take time for all the repercussions of this race to play out.
There’s still a chance Lyles could end up as the bigger-than-track superstar he set out to become after his disappointment in Tokyo three years ago.
Those Games, staged in front of no fans while the COVID pandemic raged, took a mental-health toll on Lyles, one he said made him less than himself and led to his disappointing finish in Tokyo.
After he won the 100 Sunday night, he took that Tokyo bronze medal out during his news conference, dropped it on the table and explained it was the thing that motivated him to become a new person and a new sprinter for this Olympic cycle.
The 100-meter thriller sealed the first half of the deal. But instead of breezing through the 200, just getting to the starting line became a product of “trying to get me on as much medication as we legally could to make sure that my body was able to just keep the momentum going.”
Lyles posts that he likely won’t run in the 4×100 relay
As Thursday turned to Friday in Paris, Lyles took to social media and posted his thanks to fans for their supportive messages and his congratulations to Tebogo and Bednarek.
He also said “I believe this will be the end of my 2024 Olympics,” where he was supposed to run the anchor leg in the final of the men’s 4×100 on Friday.
“It is not the Olympic I dreamed of but it has left me with so much Joy in my heart,” he wrote. “I hope everyone enjoyed the show. Whether you were rooting for me or against me, you have to admit you watched, didn’t you?”
The spectacle Lyles headlined struck a sobering chord at a revitalized Olympics that were supposed to be all about the return of fans and the return of the Games as we used to know them.
Lyles reminded us that there will never be a “post-COVID” Games.
