Lyles went on to add.
“I had a plan before I got to the 200m and now my plan is out the window. Right now, I’m just trying to get as healthy as possible. They put me on the COVID medication…I’m trying to go through warmups and trying to get as normal as possible each round. I’m trying to throw away any negative thought that I have and keeping that confidence and that idea believing I’m in the shape of my life.”
– Sharpe asked whether Lyles ever considered pulling out of the race.
“Yeah, that was a conversation. While I was getting tested, I was talking to the Team USA doctors and they were telling me what the rules are. They changed them from Tokyo. They said that anyone who has COVID is allowed to compete. It’s up to the governing body of their sport or their country to decide how they want to handle the COVID situation.
I’m just going to let you know, there were a lot of people in the village who had COVID that just didn’t say it. I’m just the most popular person who got COVID and actually said I had it. Because of that, it stirs up a lot of controversy in itself.
As soon as I heard I got COVID and I was able to compete, I said ‘I am going to try.’ I’m not promised tomorrow, so I’m going to take advantage of what I have today. The fact that I was able to get to the finals and still grab bronze, that was a medal I could’ve easily just said ‘Nah I got the gold, I’m good.’ No! I’m here now, I fought for this for 4 years. I trained for this for 4 years. Why not take the opportunity?”
What comes next?
– Lyles entered the Paris Olympics hoping to come away with gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and possibly the 4x400m relay. He left Paris with the 100m gold, 200m bronze and did not contest either relay.
– Lyles told Nightcap that he has ended his season and will not contest any of the remaining Diamond League races.
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