PARIS: USA megastar Noah Lyles was denied in his pursuit to win the sprint double in Paris after testing positive to COVID-19, then found himself in the hands of medical staff and was carted from the track in a wheelchair.
Letsile Tebogo won Botswana’s first Olympic gold medal in history as he produced a boilover in the men’s 200m on Friday morning (AEST), storming to glory in a time of 19.46 seconds (+0.4 wind).
The 21-year-old was too hot for Kenneth Bednarek of the USA, who claimed silver in 19.62, and bronze medallist Lyles, who posted 19.70.
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Lyles clinched Olympic gold in the 100m dash on Monday morning (AEST), winning an astonishing final by .005 of a second, but was upstaged in his pet event.
He confirmed after the 200m final that he’d tested positive to COVID-19 two days earlier.
“I woke up in the middle of the night feeling real chills, aching, sore throat, and those were a lot of the symptoms I’ve had right before getting COVID,” Lyles said.
“I’ve had better days, but I’m walking around again. I was quite light-headed after that race. Shortness of breath, chest pain, but after a while I could catch my breath and get my wits about me. I’m a lot better now.
“It definitely affected my performance. I’ve had to take a lot of breaks … I was coughing through the night.
“I’m more proud of myself than anything, coming out here to get a bronze with COVID.”
The reigning 200m world champion laid flat on his back on the purple track after the race, and after sitting up for several minutes as medical staff came to his aid, he was rolled away in a wheelchair gasping for air at the Stade de France.
Despite having COVID-19, Lyles took no measures to conserve energy upon his entry to the arena for the 200m final.
Instead of strolling out to the blocks, saving as much energy as possible for the 19-second burst that awaited, the track and field showman exploded into the arena as though he was celebrating winning Olympic gold, pouncing onto the track, spinning airborne and roaring like a lion as he thrust his arms above his head.
Lyles’ seven rivals were standing behind the blocks ready to go, but he was still leaping around on the back straight.
“I already had a bunch of energy. This is by far the best day I’ve felt out of the last three days. Still not 100 per cent but closer to 90-95 per cent. That only works for one shot,” Lyles said.
“I got to settle down for a while. It’s one and done, there’s no holding back.”
Lyles said it was undecided if he’d feature in the 4x100m relay in Paris.
The Virginia product won gold in the 100m and 200m at last year’s world championships in Budapest, but if the 27-year-old is to become the first man to complete the sprint double at an Olympic Games since Usain Bolt, he will have to wait another four years.
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Tebogo stepped out of Lyles’ shadow to win his maiden individual global gold medal. He was a member of Botswana’s 4x400m relay team that won gold at the World Athletics Relays in The Bahamas in May.
In a beautiful tribute to his late mum after winning gold in Paris, he took off his spikes and held them in front of broadcast cameras, revealing her date of birth crafted onto his shoes.
“It’s basically me carrying her through every stride that I take inside the field,” Tebogo said.
“Me, to take her, it gives me a lot of motivation. She’s watching up there, and she’s really, really happy.
“I didn’t want to put the date of her death because I’ll get emotional.”
Tebogo’s mum died in May at the age of just 43.
“I took about three weeks to a month without doing anything,” Tebogo said.
“It wasn’t really clicking for me that she’s really gone.
“For me, I have to find the reason why I started my athletics journey and why I should continue going on.”
