Letsile Tebogo has jumped to Noah Lyles’ defence after the US athlete faced a wave of criticism for competing in the men’s 200m Olympic final, despite testing positive for Covid-19.
Lyles looked some way from his best in the 200m semi-finals after being crowned the new 100m Olympic champion, with the American finishing second behind Tebogo on Wednesday to advance to tonight’s showpiece in Paris.
And it was a familiar sight this evening as an out-of-sorts Lyles had to settle for the bronze medal behind Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek, who claimed gold and silver respectively.
It subsequently emerged that Lyles had tested positive for Covid-19 two days prior to the final and the 27-year-old has received criticism from some quarters.
Lyles was pictured hugging and high-fiving many of his fellow competitors shortly after crossing the finishing line at the Stade de France and BBC host Gabby Logan suggested he had made a ‘selfish decision’ by competing and putting the other athletes at risk.
Michael Johnson, meanwhile, said he was ‘morally’ unsure about Lyles’ decision to embrace Bednarek, especially given the latter is due to run for the United States in the 4x100m relay on Friday. It remains to be seen if Lyles will be fit enough to participate.
‘Personally, I wouldn’t say we were at risk because it’s not a contact sport,’ Tebogo said when asked about Lyles’ controversial decision to run in the 200m final.
‘So even during the warm-ups and in the call room, he was just there by himself.
‘Personally, I wondered why [he was by himself]. I didn’t want to make assumptions of what he could be going through.
‘But afterwards, all he said – after the 100m final – I thought maybe it was just one of those days when he’s not having a great day but I didn’t think of Covid or anything else.’
Bednarek, the silver medallist, echoed Tebogo’s comments and did not feel his compatriot had put others at risk.
‘I didn’t think I was put at risk at all. I take care of my body so when it comes to getting sick, that’s rare for me,’ Bednarek said.
‘When I found out, it wasn’t that big of a deal. He went out there, did his best while being sick.
‘I hope he gets better, that’s all I can really say.’
Speaking to NBC shortly after the final, Lyles hinted that he was angling towards pulling out of the 4x100m relay in two days’ time.
‘At the minute I don’t know but I’m feeling more on the side of letting Team USA do their own thing,’ he said.
‘They’ve proven with great certainty that they can handle it without me and if that is the case coming off today then I’m perfectly fine to let them go do their thing.
‘They have more than enough speed to handle it and get the gold medal.’
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