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American sprint king Noah Lyles has shed light on the motivation behind his decision to go clubbing having been diagnosed with Covid-19 at the Paris 2024 Olympics while hitting out at Team USA.
Olympics 100m champion Noah Lyles has weighed in on why he went clubbing despite testing positive for Covid-19 during the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Lyles revealed his Covid diagnosis shortly after being stunned by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo in the 200m final to finish third in a race many expected him to win.
Having been run close by Jamaican Kishane Thompson in the 100m, which he won by the tiniest of margins, Lyles was expected to totally dominate the 200m and he roared into the stadium, jumping and shouting as the crowd urged him on.
However, in the race, he could only manage third behind Tebogo and American compatriot Kenny Bednarek, who clinched silver, as he was forced to settle for bronze.
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06:57 - 11.12.2024
Noah Lyles teams up with Rai Benjamin & Grant Holloway for joint new venture aimed at spilling ‘all the tea from Paris’
Olympics champions Noah Lyles, Rai Benjamin and Grant Holloway have joined hands for a new exciting venture aimed at going beyond the track for their fans.
Lyles was left lying on the track for some minutes before he was wheeled away on wheelchair, later revealing that he was running the race having tested positive for the virus.
However, immediately after, he went clubbing, raising questions over the genuineness of his claims and he has now come out to explain the motivation behind his decision.
“Do you know why I went to the club? The day that I had tested negative. I took the Covid test and I knew that people were gonna be like ‘Oh he didn’t have Covid yada yada’ so I posted my negative test,” said Lyles in an excerpt of the new podcast “Beyond The Track” featuring him and fellow Olympic champions Grant Holloway and Rai Benjamin.
“And I think the real thing that messed up was that Team USA did not put up a statement saying that: ‘We tested Noah, he tested positive and that he didn’t you know, we made sure he was in a controlled environment and we made sure we followed the laws.’”
“There was no message from that and I am like; ‘wow, this is the moment when you guys come to defend your athletes.”
Holloway then weighed in: “They [Team USA] do nothing for you. I can see how you felt slighted.”
Lyles then went on about why he felt the need to celebrate in the French capital.
“I was in the club having fun, celebrating my wins. I understand it, I understand why they think it is fake because they are always going to say it is fake because one, I’m American and two, I am saying that I have this disease and yet I compete better than you can ever imagine,” he added.
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15:10 - 11.12.2024
‘They still are people’ - Sha'Carri Richardson slams track & field for doing ‘disservice’ to female athletes
American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson has expressed her disappointment at the manner in which some female athletes are being treated which she feels is doing a ‘disservice’ to the sport.
Benjamin agreed with his assessment, saying: “That is a flex.”
The full first episode of the “Beyond The Track” podcast will be released on Thursday December 12.
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