Noah Lyles was criticized throughout the entirety of 2024 for his slow start. However, as the days to the Paris Olympics came closer, the US sprinter looked to be gaining some valuable momentum. Lyles recorded whirlwind timing in the trials to storm into the Olympics, which made the US fans hopeful for a positive showing from Lyles. Now, this was just the US fans. The rest of the track and field fans were still not convinced enough about Lyles’ 100m credibility. 

But as the race started, it turned out to be a mayhem. Registering in the history books as one of the fastest races in the Olympics, Noah Lyles showed that he could back his talks. Running a blitzkrieg time of 9.79s, Lyles and Kishane Thompson had a tie. Later on, the judges had to analyze the photo finish to award the gold medal to Noah Lyles. This was history right there, as it has been some time since a U.S. athlete won the Olympic gold in the men’s 100m discipline. 

Now, after Noah Lyles won the 100-meter gold, the hype went through the roof ahead of his 200-meter race. With the category touted as a particularly strong forte for the Americans, everybody braced themselves for a second Olympic gold. But as the gun was fired, things did not look okay with Noah Lyles. Running for glory, Lyles did not look to be in his element. He huffed and puffed and looked to be struggling even to finish his race. Surely enough, while the American finished third, he laid flat on his back, admitting to having had a COVID-19 infection. 

Now, while it has been a while since the Paris Olympics have been done and dusted, Lyles still seems to be not over with the dreadful night. Recalling his struggles, the Olympic champion reflected on what he went through in the second season of Netflix’s docuseries ‘Sprint’. Lyles said, “I just get a strong pain in my chest, and it literally feels like my muscles are ripping. And I just had to go to the ground because I couldn’t breathe.”

Lyles then went on to state that despite missing the gold medal, he felt proud to have won the bronze. Battling asthma from childhood, Lyles came across similar breathing difficulties as he did during the 200-meter finals. Thus, in his words, “So the race didn’t go exactly to plan. But that bronze medal means so much to me because I feel it encapsulates my childhood in that one medal. The fight I had to go through as a young kid is the same challenge I had to go through at the Olympics as an adult.”

However, going back to the moment, both Keisha Caine and Junelle Bromfield had a scary moment sitting in the stands.

Noah Lyles had his family worried after the 200m fall

Both Junelle Bromfield and Keisha Caine were in attendance when Lyles finished his 200-meter race. Watching him gasp for air and lay flat on his back sent shivers down the spines of both. Recalling the moment on ‘Sprint’ season 2, Junelle Bromfield stated, “I was sitting there with Miss Keisha and we’re holding hands, we’re just praying. We saw him go down and that’s where, like, all the panicking started.” And it was not only Bromfield who panicked. 

Noah Lyles’ mother too started to feel anxious watching her son in such a sorry state. Angered by the mismanagement in Paris, Caine lashed out at the Olympic authorities. While Caine desperately asked the security guard to call for immediate medical attention, her requests were turned a deaf ear by the guard.

Enraged at the entire fiasco, Keisha Caine wrote on her social media, “Watching my son hold his chest gasping for air while the stadium security refused to call a Dr. as I begged them to send him help. They also refused to do anything to help. They totally ignored me! No parent should ever have to experience this feeling of helplessness!” 

Well, while the situation in Paris was surely a tense one, everything did turn out to be fine for Noah Lyles and Co. Now, starting a brand new season as the Olympic champion, Lyles would look forward to taking his game to the next level in the upcoming days.