Noah Lyles Had 102 Fever in Bronze Medal-Winning 200m Race at Olympics, Coach Says

Though he couldn't earn gold in the 200-meter final on Thursday, United States track star Noah Lyles still took home a bronze despite testing positive for COVID-19 before the race.

His coach, Lance Brauman, later revealed the severity of Lyles' illness.

"Those guys raced great," Brauman said, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "But to get a bronze medal in 19.70 with a temperature of about 102, that wasn't too bad."

On Sunday, Lyles won a stacked 100-meter final to earn the first gold medal of his career. He ran a personal best time of 9.79 to edge out Jamaica's Kishane Thompson. Though a gold is always better than a bronze, Brauman said coming in third while being in Lyles' state is arguably just as impressive.

"It's hard to replace a gold medal in the 100 meters at the Olympic Games ... that one was probably the most important medal," Brauman said. "How did he put it, we talked about it - he will have the most satisfaction out of the bronze."

Along with the 100-meter and 200-meter, Lyles was supposed to compete in the 4x100-meter relay, but had to pull out after testing positive for COVID-19. Still, it was a successful second Olympics for Lyles. Now, he'll shift his focus to Los Angeles 2028, where he'll look to continue his rise to track stardom.

"He's going to be really good through LA at least, and then we'll see what happens after that," Brauman said of the next Olympics in 2028. "I just need him to keep doing what he's doing."