Covid-stricken Noah Lyles missed out on an Olympic sprint double after falling short in the men’s 200m final in Paris, with Letsile Tebogo of Botswana taking gold and American Kenny Bednarek snapping up silver.
The world champion at the distance was hoping become the first man since Usain Bolt at the Rio 2016 Games to secure both the 100m and 200m titles.
He had managed to bounce back to win 100m gold in Paris, but this time could not compensate for what was again the slowest reaction time of the pack.
After the race Lyles fell to his back after the loss and eventually sat up to be tended to by medics who rushed out onto the track.
He was placed in a wheelchair with Lyles later revealing he tested positive for Covid on Tuesday morning and woke up in the middle of the night “with chills”.
Lyles said he quickly quarantined in a hotel, but insisted on competing in the final, although the 27-year-old said the illness had affected his performance.
He said: “I do have Covid. I tested positive around 5am on Tuesday morning. Woke up in the middle of the night feeling chills, aching, sore throat and those were a lot of the symptoms I’ve always had right before getting Covid.
“We tested it and it came back positive so we quickly quarantined in a hotel near the village and get me on as much medication as we legally could to make sure that my body was able to keep the momentum going.
“I still wanted to run, we decided it was still possible, so we just stayed away from everybody and tried to take it round by round. I knew if I wanted to come out here and win I would have to give everything I’ve had from the get go. I didn’t have any time to save energy. That was the strategy.
“It definitely affected my performance. I am more proud of myself than anything. Coming out and getting the bronze medal with Covid.
“We tried to keep it close to our chest. The medical staff, my coach and my mum knew.
“We didn’t want everybody to go into a panic. We wanted to be able to compete. We wanted to be able to make it discreet as possible and you don’t want to tell your competitors you are sick.
“Why would you give them an edge?”
Tebogo led wire-to-wire and won in 19.46 seconds, the fourth-fastest time in history.
“I’m the Olympic champion, it’s something I have never seen in my life or dreamt of – it is an amazing moment,” the 21-year-old Tebogo said.
“I just came here with the little that I had in me to push through because yesterday we made it to the final, my coach told me ‘now it’s your race’.
“I knew when the gun went Kenny was going to run away so make sure just to close him down, I have that top end speed that will allow me to finish the race without getting tired, so that’s what I did, and when I saw Kenny fade I knew Noah was far, far away behind us so that means I’m the Olympic champion.
“It means a lot for everybody, the country, the continent and my family.”
Bednarek, who also won silver in Tokyo, finished in 19.62 and Lyles, four nights after winning an epic 100m, ran the curve in 19.70.
Lyles was slowest off the blocks in 0.173 seconds but had clawed his way up to third by the 20m mark and remained in bronze medal position for the rest of the race, finishing in 19.70.
Tebogo and Bednarek battled for their positions, the American holding the lead just after the halfway point, but it was the Botswanan’s race to lose from the 120m mark and he never looked close to letting go.
Lyles, who was also issued a yellow card for breaking his starting block, was whisked away to a medical consultation after the race.
In other news, American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke the women’s 400m hurdles world record with a time of 50.37 seconds to retain her Olympic title.
Anna Cockrell of the United States took silver and Dutchwoman Femke Bol claimed bronze.
Arshad Nadeem clinched Pakistan’s first Olympic medal in athletics in the men’s javelin, beating defending champion Neeraj Chopra of India.
Nadeem broke the Olympic record on his second throw with a stunning 92.97 metres – the best in the world this year.
Chopra, favourite to win, looked off his best form, and 89.45 was also his only valid attempt as he fouled on his five other attempts.
Grenada’s Anderson Peters won bronze with 88.54, a redemptive moment for the two-time world champion after he failed to make it to the final at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
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