Noah Lyles Wins Bronze Medal During Men's 200m at 2024 Olympics

Team USA's Noah Lyles fell short of pulling off the double Thursday at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, as he settled for bronze in the men's 200-meter track event after previously winning gold in the 100m.

Botswana's Letsile Tebogo became the first African man to ever take gold in the 200m with a time of 19.46 seconds, followed by American Kenny Bednarek in second and Lyles in third.

After the race, Lyles appeared to be in some form of distress and was later taken down the tunnel in a wheelchair by medical personnel. US Track and Field later confirmed to the BBC that Lyles had been diagnosed with COVID-19 prior to the race.

Lyles later spoke about his diagnosis to reporters, saying he kept it "close to the vest."

The final results in seconds for all eight runners in the race are as follows, courtesy of the Olympics' official website:

1. Letsile Tebogo (Botswana): 19.46
2. Kenny Bednarek (USA): 19.62
3. Noah Lyles (USA): 19.70
4. Erriyon Knighton (USA): 19.99
5. Alexander Ogando (Dominican Republic): 20.02
6. Tapiwanashe Makarawu (Zimbabwe): 20.10
   
7. Joseph Fahnbulleh (Liberia): 20.15
   
8. Makanakaishe Charamba (Zimbabwe): 20.53
   

After winning gold in the 100m and 200m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Lyles arrived at the Olympics with the distinction of being the fastest man in the world.

He solidified that status by narrowly beating Jamaica's Kishane Thompson by five one-thousandths of a second to win 100m gold on Sunday, becoming the first American to win the event since Justin Gatlin in 2004.

However, Lyles had a chance to cement his dominance even more by pulling off the double, which hadn't been done at the Olympics since Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt accomplished the feat in three consecutive Olympic Games in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

Lyles won bronze in the 200m three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, and he entered this year's Olympics as the odds-on favorite to win it, although qualifying suggested he would have some competition.

In the semifinals, Lyles finished second in his race to Tebogo, who finished in 19.96 seconds. Lyles also had only the third-fastest time overall at 20.08 seconds, as Bednarek won his semi in 20 seconds flat.

The semis were perhaps a harbinger of things to come since Lyles was unable to prevail in the 200m final, meaning Team USA still hasn't won gold in the event since Kenneth Crawford pulled it off in 2004.

Team USA also continued its 40-year double drought, as Carl Lewis was the last American man to win gold in the 100m and 200m at the same Olympics back in 1984.

Lyles could have one more chance to win gold at these Olympics as part of Team USA in the 4x100-meter relay on Friday, but it is unclear if he plans to compete given his COVID diagnosis.