Noah Lyles’ mother has spoken out about her ordeal after claiming Olympic security refused to help her son when he collapsed after the men’s 200m final.
Lyles, who won gold in the 100m final last weekend, missed out on a historic double after finishing third in the 200m race earlier this week.
It later emerged that the 27-year-old was suffering from Covid-19 at the time of the event, with his coach claiming he had a fever of 102 degrees while competing that day.
After coming on behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and fellow American Kenny Bednarek, Lyles collapsed to the ground in terrifying scenes before eventually being wheeled out of the Stade de France by medics.
Noah Lyles’ mother says Olympic security refused to help her son when he collapsed after the men’s 200m final
However, according to his mother, Keisha Caine Bishop, security inside the stadium initially refused to call a doctor for her son when he fell to the ground, despite pleading with them to send help.
In an Instagram post, Keisha wrote alongside a photo of Noah on the ground after the race: “This was one of the scariest moments of my life! Watching my son clutching his chest gasping for air as stadium security refused to call a medic as I begged them to send him help.
‘They also refused to do anything to help me. They completely ignored me! No parent should ever have to experience this feeling of helplessness!’
‘However, I want to thank the @nbcolympics team for helping me through this time. Thank you for seeing me and my son as human beings and not just another story. Words cannot express my gratitude for your empathy, professionalism, and kindness.
‘I also thank the @usatf staff who let me cry on their shoulders. To the security team, I pray that if your loved one ever needs help, you treat them better than you treated us. I also thank God that you are getting better.’
Lyles announced on Saturday that he is now free of Covid-19 after recovering from the virus.
Bishop Keisha Caine says security inside the stadium initially refused to call a doctor for Lyles, who was suffering from Covid-19.
The bishop could be seen gesturing furiously in a heated conversation with security that day.
The 100m champion was forced to withdraw from this week’s 4x100m relay as he battled Covid, and his collapse at the end of the 200m convinced him to end his Olympics earlier than planned.
Coach Lance Brauman told The Associated Press that Lyles had a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius) when she took bronze. That’s what made that medal, in her final sprint at the Paris Games, all the more impressive for Brauman.
“Those guys ran really well,” Brauman said of Tebogo and Bednarek. “But getting a bronze medal in 19.70 in temperatures of about 39.5 degrees Celsius wasn’t so bad.”