(NEXSTAR) – After Noah Lyles competed in the 200-meter final in Paris Thursday, he collapsed to the ground – and it wasn’t just from exhaustion. The American sprinter had been diagnosed with COVID-19 two days prior at the Olympics, Lyles told reporters after the race wrapped.
If Lyles knew he had COVID before the race even started, why was he allowed to compete?
According to Scientific American, athletes who test positive for the virus are still allowed to participate in the competition – and several have. As of Wednesday, 19 athletes – many of them British and Australian swimmers – had tested positive.
Unlike the past two Olympics, in Tokyo and Beijing, the Paris Games have no mandatory testing for participating athletes, either, Scientific American reports. Masks are encouraged for those who don’t feel well, but they’re not required. (Lyles wore a mask when addressing the media after his race, but not in the warm-up or during the event.) There are also single rooms for athletes who are COVID-positive.
While there is no overarching COVID policy, some countries have written out their own frameworks for how to tackle the virus at the 2024 Games.
The U.S. track federation released a statement saying it and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee adhered to all Olympic and Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
“After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah chose to compete tonight,” the statement said. “We respect his decision and will continue to monitor his condition closely.”
Lyles said he tested positive early Tuesday morning and quickly got into quarantine. “I still wanted to run,” he said. “They said it was possible.”
“It definitely affected my performance,” he added.
After Lyles crossed the finish line in third place Thursday, he fell to his back and writhed around in pain, staying down for nearly 30 seconds before getting up, asking for water and getting into a wheelchair.
It’s the second straight Olympics the virus has played a major role in Lyles’ trip to the Games. He also won the bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, and he has said the empty stands and the year-long delay before the Games led to depression that hampered his performance and inspired his road to Paris.
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took the gold medal in the 200-meter final, while American teammate Kenny Bednarek grabbed silver.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.