Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles feels testing positive for COVID-19 "definitely" affected his performance in Thursday's 200m final, as he was denied a sprint double by Letsile Tobego.
Lyles took gold in Sunday's 100m showpiece by five-thousandths of a second and had the chance to become the first man to win a 100m and 200m double at a single Olympics since Usain Bolt in 2016.
However, he finished third behind Botswana's Tobego and fellow Team USA star Kenneth Bednarek, managing a time of 19.70 seconds at the Stade de France.
Tobego managed a 19.46 as he became Botswana's first Olympic gold medallist in any sport, handing his country just their third Olympic medal of any description.
Lyles appeared lethargic and was wheeled away from the track in a chair after the race, as rumours swirled regarding his health.
US Track and Field subsequently confirmed he had competed despite testing positive for COVID-19, and Lyles was proud of the way he fought through illness to take bronze.
"I do have Covid. I tested positive around 5am on Tuesday morning," Lyles told reporters after the race.
"I woke up in the middle of the night feeling real chills, aching, sore throat, and those were a lot of the symptoms I've had right before getting Covid.
"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. I've had better days, but I'm walking around again. I was quite light-headed after that race.
"Shortness of breath, chest pain, but after a while I could catch my breath and get my wits about me. I'm a lot better now."
Puerto Rico’s Camacho-Quinn take 100m hurdles bronze in Paris; USA’s Russell takes gold ahead of France’s Samba-Mayela
Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn is now a two-time Olympic medallist after securing bronze in the final of the Women’s 100m hurdles at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
The three medallists in Saturday’s final at the Stade de France were separated by just three hundredths of a second.
Camacho-Quinn, who won gold in Tokyo three years ago, took bronze this time around in 12.36, just behind France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela (12.34) who took silver.
American Masai Russell, whose only other win this season came in the final at the US Trials, held her nerve to take gold in 12.33.
Bahamian World Indoor 60m hurdles champion and world record holder Devynne Charlton ran 12.56 in sixth while Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent failed to finish.
Russell beats French favourite Samba-Mayela to 100m hurdles gold
Cyrena Samba-Mayela delivered France's first track and field medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, but she had to settle for silver after losing narrowly to Masai Russell.
Team USA star Russell, who is competing at her first edition of the Games, came flying up on the inside to beat Samba-Mayela by one-hundredth of a second at the Stade de France.
Samba-Mayela collapsed in tears on the track after claiming France's first athletics medal on the penultimate night of their home games, with president Emmanuel Macron watching on.
Russell's victory came on the back of Grant Holloway's triumph in the men's 110m hurdles on Thursday, and represents Team USA's 12th track and field gold at these Games.
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico took bronze, finishing just three-hundredths of a second behind Russell in a fiercely contested race, while the Netherlands' Nadine Visser missed out on a medal in fourth.
Jamaica's Sport Minister congratulates trio who belatedly received Olympic medals
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