Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Noah Lyles Opens Up on COVID Diagnosis, His Top Paris Memory, and What's Next
Team USA’s superstar sprinter is on a mission.
Noah Lyles had an undeniably memorable Paris Olympics. The star American sprinter dashed his way to the title of “World’s Fastest Man,” winning the men’s 100m in an instantly iconic moment punctuated by a photo finish. But his quest for the elusive “double” – winning the 100m and 200m – never came to fruition, as he was notably hampered by COVID during the latter race.
Heading into Paris, among a staggering litany of world-class talent boasted by the Team USA, including LeBron James, Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, Sha’Carri Richardson and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, perhaps no other athlete representing the Stars & Stripes had more expectations upon his shoulders than the 27-year-old speedster from Alexandria, Virginia.
Though he’d earned bronze medal in the men's 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it was clear that Lyles was thirsty for more, and he didn’t disappoint. He won a gold medal in the 200m at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, and followed that up with three golds in Budapest the next year (100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay). All that was left was to seize the coveted title of the "World’s Fastest Man" on the world’s biggest stage: the 2024 Olympic Games.
RELATED: Here Are All the U.S. Medal Winners at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Now in the afterglow of those Games, Lyles sat down with NBC Insider for a wide-ranging interview about that unfortunately timed COVID diagnosis, his favorite memory from Paris, and where he wants to take himself, his sport, and his supporters in the years to come.
Noah Lyles on His COVID Diagnosis
Watching a noticeably fatigued Lyles gasping for air after the 200m race was a bit unsettling to say the least. After all, wasn’t this guy supposed to be Superman? Then the world found out: Lyles had contracted COVID and, while he had taken the necessary steps recommended by health authorities, ultimately, the virus won out, likely compromising him in the race for his second gold medal.
Still, while the optics of Lyles racing with COVID will continue to be cut, parsed and scrutinized by every pundit and critic with a social media account, for a guy who’s battled asthma all his life, Lyles capturing the bronze despite having a respiratory infection elevates an already valiant effort to one of heroic proportions.
Now, as the rumor mill continues to churn, he’s setting the record straight.
“The first thing I kind of want to clarify is I've been hearing that people have been saying that I've had a 103 or 102 fever. That is incorrect,” Lyles told NBC Insider. “The highest fever that I had was like, like a 99.1, and it wasn't very long.”
RELATED: What's in the Box that Olympic Winners Get along with their Medals?
That said, the mild fever was only a glimpse of what was to come.
“I wake up on Tuesday morning (August 6), and … I feel horrible. I'm aching, I'm hot, and these aren't aches from running,” he said. “I can easily tell the difference. My throat is extremely scratchy, and it's hurting. I'm like, ‘These are all my COVID signs.’ …So I'm like, ‘I need to get tested immediately.’”
“I finally get a hold of [the doctors], and we go, and we take the old tests. The one where they're sticking the swab, almost touching the back of your throat and maybe touching your brain. I’m like, ‘Goodness, gracious!’”
“So, an hour later, I get the answer, and it's yes. …They said, ‘Technically, you [can] still run. We just have to try and make sure that we take all the protocols and steps and make sure that you're quarantined, and you're not getting anybody else sick.’ So they moved me out of the village. I call in my coach, and I'm like, ‘Hey, I got COVID, but I still want to run.’”
“He said, ‘Okay, they're going to put [you] on the medication that decreases the likelihood of you spreading and the symptoms. … And then, of course, we didn't want COVID to mix with my asthma because that could easily turn into bronchitis, and then every day would become a challenge to breathe. That was the worst-case scenario that we didn't want to happen. … I was constantly having calls every day with the doctor on the USATF [USA Track & Field] staff.”
Once Lyles, medical staff and his team took the necessary precautions, Lyles knew it was up to him to channel the mental fortitude if he were to persevere.
“And each day, I would go and warm up … with the mindset of, ‘I've been through worse. I've been through worse.’ I've been through nights of hospital visits. I've been on breathing machines. I've been sick before and run great races.”
“‘I can do this. I can do this. I can do this,’” recalled Lyles of mustering the energy to continue.
“And of course, people are going to talk. I knew that they would say, ‘Oh, you're just blaming your performance on COVID. You don't really have COVID.’ …But that's just gonna happen. It's just the way that it is.”
“But I know for myself, and that's all that matters, that I was able to put my best foot forward and truly go out there and give every ounce of energy that I had left onto that 200.”
What Drives Noah Lyles?
Lyles' signature Olympic moment came in the men's 100m, when he oh-so-narrowly edged out Jamaica's Kishane Thompson for the gold medal – we're talking a photo-finish margin of just five thousandths of a second. Now wearing the crown of the fastest man alive, Lyles said he he owes his success to the fervor with which he attacks his goals.
“Truthfully, I just have the drive,” Lyles told NBC Insider. “My ambition for anything that I touch automatically turns to I want to see it handled in the best way possible ... not only reaching the highest heights, but also changing the way that it's even thought of.”
Continuously finding, then harnessing, that type of dedication requires an extreme level of motivation, but he’s the type that welcomes such a beast of a challenge with open arms.
“You know, I'm not satisfied with just being the greatest in it,” he added. “I also want to say, ‘Hey, I want to change the concept of the efficiency of how we do things in whatever I decide to put interest into.”
In terms of those interests, Lyles has spent significant time and energy in creating his own music, social media content for his YouTube page, and other engaging videos that allow him to lean into topics and areas that are important to him.
“Being able to tell the stories that I want – that's been, you know, examples of this is how I feel I'm going to apply my knowledge and apply my skills and tell stories the way that I want to.”
What's Noah Lyles' Favorite Olympic Memory?
For Olympians, everything boils down to a series of moments. While some are more fleeting than others, for athletes like Noah Lyles, cherishing the time he spent competing in France among both his brethren and the best competitors from around the world is just as important as the competition itself. That said, out of all his memories he banked during his stellar sojourn in the City of Light, one will forever remain atop the rest.
“The moment that I'm gonna remember forever is the introduction for the 100 meters,” Lyles told NBC Insider. “First of all, this crowd in Paris has been beyond amazing. I couldn't have fathomed a crowd so energetic and so eager to be entertained. And as a showman, that's what I love and dream about.
RELATED: H.E.R. Singing the National Anthem at the Olympic Closing Ceremony Will Blow You Away
“So, we come out for the 100, I'm jumping around, and they're eating it up. And before they say, ‘On your mark,’ the time from the intros to the time on your mark, there's probably about seven minutes,” Lyles continues. “Now, that's extremely long. Usually it's only about 60 seconds. But right after the intros to when they say ‘On your mark,’ and we're looking around, and we're like, ‘What's going on?’ …This race should have started already, but the crowd is just getting energized with every second that goes on. And there was no peace, there was no quiet. It was just constantly a resurge of yelling and energy of chants.
“And it wasn't just my name,” he states. “It was [Lamont] Marcel [Jacobs], it was Fred [Kerley]. It was Kishane [Thompson]. It was Oblique [Seville]. I'm just constantly hearing people cheering like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing!’
“In that moment right there, as the time bomb gets closer and closer, and it compresses, and pressure is built more and more, I'm just like, ‘Yeah, I'm gonna win this race.’”
Lyles on How Shared Backgrounds Unite Team USA Track & Field
Having a drive for greatness isn’t necessarily a surprising attribute when it comes to elite athletes, but when it's shared with several members from your team, there’s a power that can’t be matched.
“I can't speak for everybody, [but] I can definitely say that the goal and the ambition for obtaining things that we were told we cannot obtain is very strong, and that's very ingrained into us,” Lyles revealed to NBC Insider. “A lot of us who come are Black, and hearing that constantly is a very big driving force for us. So, when we get into athletics, that only drives us harder. And we all know that, and we share that similarity between each other.”
According to Lyles, that shared experience means a victory for one really is a victory for all.
“We know we all are very talented, and of course, we have the resources of being a part of Team USA. So, we know that when one person obtains something, it's like a domino effect. It just keeps pushing forward more and more and more. And of course, being an Olympic year definitely helps that.”
“And I'm just hoping that this drive continues throughout all of our careers.”
Working With Olympic Legend Carl Lewis
While Lyles’ story on the track in Paris has come to a close, the stories he’s telling on screen are only getting started. Amidst a myriad of talk shows, podcasts, and commercials, Lyles partnered with Tide for its Stains Happen to the Best of Us campaign. Illustrating that life can get messy for even superstar athletes, the ad featured none other than the legendary Olympian, Carl Lewis. Lyles recalled what it was like to work with the nine-time Olympic gold medalist.
“It was a pretty fun day,” said Lyles with a smile on his face. “We weren't always together until we came to that last moment in the cafeteria where we just started hitting line after line. ... We didn't get to talk as long as I wanted to, but he's still a great, a really cool guy.”
As a dedicated student of the sport, Lyles approached his time with Lewis with the utmost respect.
“I love to hear everybody's story and everybody's point of view, so anytime that I'm able to have a chance to hear how somebody did their accomplishments, and be able to say, ‘Hey, can I apply this to what I'm trying to do, I consider being a great moment.”
Legacy After Paris
Despite COVID compromising his shot at becoming the first American to complete "the double" – winning both the 100m and 200m dashes – since Carl Lewis swept the events at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Lyles is confident about his legacy and knows exactly how best to use it.
“After this, I've clearly put my stamp down as I'm the ‘World's Fastest Man,’” stated Lyles. “There's great controversy, but with everything, there's always going to be controversy. But the titles of the World champion and the Olympic champion for the 100 meters belongs to me. So, for the next four years, you're stuck with me.”
“And with that, I'm going to try and use my influence as much as possible to push the sport to new heights, new areas, in getting other people interested in what we're doing,” he continued. “I feel that America, and the United States as a society, is an extremely good marketer. That is what we do. We market and we entertain, and it's been, I think, 20 years since we had the title of ‘World's Fastest Man.’ That's a very long time.”
“That's so long that Facebook wasn't a thing. Instagram was not a thing. YouTube might have just been coming out,” Lyles joked. “I mean, we might have been coming out of the internet bubble burst, you know, and now having all these resources … let's see how far we, as the United States, can push this title.”
“Let's show what it can look like as one of the greatest influencers on the planet.”
