The Stade de France brought a ton of action during August, owing to the Olympic Games. But who was the shining athlete among the crowd? It was Noah Lyles, who was a favorite to secure the 200m gold medal. The anticipation around him grew even stronger after he defeated Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in the 100m to secure gold by just 0.005 seconds.

However, things didn’t go as the track and field star had planned, as he got diagnosed positive for COVID prior to the 200m finals. The news wasn’t public before the race, and eventually, when Lyles did place 3rd, securing the bronze medal, there were plenty of questions surrounding him being COVID positive but not informing anybody. The rumors grew further, causing plenty of controversy. Eventually, this made the Olympic champion call out Team USA publicly about their unsupportive nature towards their athletes. However, the community didn’t have much of a positive reaction to his statements.

A bold claim from the Olympic champion

Whenever Noah Lyles makes a statement, it stays around the community for a long time. Obviously, his words will be the top priority, as he is one of those athletes who doesn’t shy away from speaking the truth and going beyond just track and field. It’s also not the first time the 27-year-old has talked about issues in the sport. “Day that we decided that I had tested negative, I took the COVID test, and I knew that people were going to be like, ‘Oh, he didn’t have COVID,’ yada yada yada,” the 100m Olympic champion mentioned about the rumors that brew up after his 200m race in Paris on the Beyond The Records Podcast, featured on Track & Field Gazzette’s X profile. 

Furthermore, he addressed how beneficial it would’ve been if Team USA had taken this matter into their hands, stating, “So I posted my negative test, and I think the real thing that messed up was that Team USA didn’t put out a statement, saying that we tested Noah. He tested positive, and that he didn’t, you know, we made sure that he was in a controlled environment, and we made sure we followed the laws. Like there was no message from that. I’m like, ‘Wow, this is the moment where you guys come to defend your athlete.'”

Surely, Lyles wasn’t happy with the way his team treated the situation while the rumors surrounding his disease were piling up. The 27-year-old demanded nothing more than just an official statement from Team USA, which could’ve cleared out all the assumptions that were being made by the community, especially the critics, who got an opportunity to get on Lyles’ nerves.

However, for such an audience, the Olympic champion had a message too, stating, “A hundred percent. Yeah, I was in the club, having fun, celebrating my wins. Oh yeah, I understand it. I understand why they hate think it’s fake because they’re always gonna think it’s fake because one, I’m American, and two, you know, I’m saying that I have this disease and yet I compete better than you can ever imagine.” Lyles doesn’t blame the haters, as they think that he never suffered from COVID and was straight-up lying. However, he mentioned that if he had been in his top form in the 200m, it would’ve been an easy race for him, and who knows, a second Olympic gold medal of his career too. But how did Lyles’ remarks on this controversy spark debate in the community again?

Not very fond of Noah Lyles

The moment Noah Lyles got the news that he tested positive for COVID, he knew his journey to Paris was already over. However, he tried his best to stay away from media attention during that time, but eventually, the news got out after the race. Back then, it did divide the community, as many didn’t believe the American athlete, which is no different than this time too, as one fan stated, “‘We made sure that he was in a controlled environment…’, yet you ran with COVID and you were all touchy touchy after the race. Nonetheless, people would have probably believed him if he rocked up at the club with the wheelchair.” “Already hate this pd,” another fan said. Similarly, another wasn’t interested in hearing his opinion, stating, “I can tell this will be boring af. Looks like a defend ourselves podcast.”

Speculations were there, but he did give his reasons. “I can’t tell anybody. I don’t wanna give my competition the idea that, you know, they could beat me now because I am sick,” said the Olympic champion, as he couldn’t have risked the opportunity of already running on the grid, despite suffering from COVID. Getting put under such pressurized circumstances was nothing new to him. He knew the high-stakes races that these coveted events offer, and he wasn’t willing to give up any single opportunity that could’ve still earned him the medal.

However, his dedication to the sport didn’t get much attention, and rumors kept piling up against his evidence of suffering from COVID. The stint that Lyles did wasn’t welcomed by many, and still isn’t, as one fan stated, “Boy bye! You should’ve been locked up.” Another fan had a similar reaction, stating, “Sit your a** home boy, you risked the other athletes’ health running that race, also negative or not you should have taken a safer approach if you wanted to be defended by the USATF, not go out and party and give people reasons to come at you.”

This is not the first time Lyles has faced criticism. He is notorious for his controversial statements, and he stands up for the points he makes. No matter what the community thinks of him, it is a different thing, but he knew what hurdles he had to go through to be able to run at the Stade de France and prove a point to the world.