Description
Noah Lyles lost the Olympic 200 meters Thursday, falling to Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, then being tended to by medics who carted him off the track in a wheelchair. Later, wearing a mask as he spoke with reporters, Lyles said he had COVID.
After crossing the line third for the second straight Olympics, Lyles fell to his back and writhed in pain, staying down for nearly 30 seconds before getting up, asking for water and getting to the 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.”
An hour after that shock, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lowered her world record for the sixth time, finishing the 400-meter hurdles in 50.37 seconds for another Olympic blowout.
The hurdler expected to challenger her hardest, Femke Bol, finished third, behind American Anna Cockrell, who finished 1.5 seconds behind McLaughlin-Levrone.
This is McLaughlin-Levrone's second straight gold and also the second straight Olympics the virus has played a major role in Lyles' trip to the Games.
He also won the bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, and he has said the empty stands and the year-long delay before the Games led to depression that hampered his performance and inspired his road to Paris.
Lyles said he tested positive early Tuesday morning and quickly got into quarantine.
“I still wanted to run,” he said. “They said it was possible.”
Read more: https://www.9news.com/article/sports/olympics/did-noah-lyles-win-200m/507-0e50ad4b-29fa-4581-99a4-43c3e7af2bf1
More local videos here: https://bit.ly/2Pa0d1l
Subscribe to NEXT: http://bit.ly/2eP1GwI
Stay connected:
9NEWS Website: http://www.9news.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ilike9news
Twitter: https://twitter.com/9NEWS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/9newsdenver/
Download the 9NEWS App: https://www.9news.com/appredirect/
Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER: https://www.9news.com/email
9NEWS (KUSA) is located in Denver, Colorado.