PARIS — If viewed as self-centred because he brought COVID to the Stade de France in pursuit of gold, it surely has to be pointed out that American sprinter Noah Lyles and other track and field athletes are also self-funded.
Which is to say, they are paid to win; races and medals, titles, social media followers and sponsors. They are independent contractors, hired and fired guns whose competitive career lasts as long as they are, well, competitive. And if they don’t do everything they can to maximize their potential, both physical and financial, then they might well feel as if the only person being cheated by their choices is the man or woman in the mirror.
So they all look for an edge, the proprietary one or two per cent they believe makes the difference between contender and also-ran. In Lyles’ case, it meant staying mum for two days about a positive test for COVID, lest he let his competitors in Thursday’s 200-metre final know about the condition his condition was in.
Asking the loquacious Lyles to stay quiet about anything else is a lost cause. But this is a secret he was willing to swallow because of the perceived benefit.
“We were trying to keep this close to the chest,” a (finally) masked Lyles told media in the mixed zone after the race. “The people who knew were the medical staff, coach, my mum. We didn’t want everybody going into a panic, we wanted them to be able to compete. We wanted to make this as free as possible.
“I’m competitive. Why would you give them an edge over you?”
In his business, and in this scenario, that’s the central question. For the rest of us, the issue might well be related to the greater good. He took COVID into the call room, which is not a palatial space. He did not wear a mask, and did not let any other athlete in that room know they probably shouldn’t get too close.
Fellow American Kenny Bednarek didn’t know, and he is ostensibly a U.S. teammate. Except he’s not. Bednarek and Lyles become teammates only when both are asked to be part of the United States men’s 4×100 metre relay squad, and that now seems unlikely. Lyles was ready to run for himself on Thursday, but has apparently decided not to run for his relay team on Friday, even though the 24 hours in between might have made a difference to his energy levels and contagiousness. Make of that what you will, but Bednarek didn’t care.
“I don’t think I was put at risk at all. I take care of my body. When it comes to getting sick, that’s rare for me. When I found out, it wasn’t that big of a deal. He went out there and did his best while being sick. I hope he gets better.”
This could not have happened in Tokyo three years ago, when Olympic athletes performed in a bubble and a positive COVID test would have been reported and Lyles would have had to withdraw from the event and enter quarantine. But there was no mandatory COVID protocol in place at the athletics venue, or anywhere else here, so Lyles was free to show up without a mask. It was his call.
In a statement, USA Track & Field said: “Our primary commitment is to ensure the safety of Team USA athletes while upholding their right to compete. After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah chose to compete tonight. We respect his decision and continue to monitor his condition closely.”
Letsile Tebogo, the Botswanan who won the 200 metres, said he wondered why Lyles was off by himself in the call room, but when told of the COVID diagnosis, Tebogo wasn’t bothered by Lyles’ presence. At least, not any more than usual.
“I wouldn’t say we were at risk because it’s not a contact sport. Even during the warm-ups in the call room, he was just there by himself. I wondered why. I didn’t want to make assumptions of what he could be going through.”
COVID has not exactly run rampant through these Games, but it is not hard to imagine Lyles contracting the disease. His mouth is open a fair bit and he has occasion to stick his foot in there, which cannot be sanitary.
Tebogo, incidentally, was asked if he was ready to be the face of track and field.
“I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah Lyles, so I believe Noah is the face of athletics.”
Lyles is the mouth of athletics, to be sure. On occasion he is the ass of athletics, his antics arcing well over the top.
But the man gets noticed and he gets paid. He does things that grate, he does things that are great. He won the 100 metres and were it not for COVID, he might well have turned the sprint double. Instead, he finished third and brought COVID to his place of business, then passed himself off as a sympathetic, nay, heroic figure who quickly quarantined in a hotel near the athletes village to keep everyone safe.
“It definitely affected my performance. I’ve had to take a lot of breaks… I was coughing through the night. I’m more proud of myself than anything, coming out here to get a bronze with COVID.”
Selfish? Certainly. But unique? Hardly. There probably wasn’t an athlete in the building who would have erred on the side of caution; not with an Olympic medal just 200 metres away.