Letsile Tebogo Shatters Covid-Hit Noah Lyles's Record, Setting 'Super Syd' On Fire

Letsile Tebogo won Botswana's historic Olympic 200-meter gold on Thursday, while Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone broke the world record in the women's 400-meter hurdles with an incredible effort. Noah Lyles was forced to settle for bronze after Tebogo's incredible performance destroyed his hopes of winning three gold medals. He later disclosed that he has Covid. Afterwards, Lyles shared on Instagram, saying, "I think this is the end of my 2024 Olympics." McLaughlin-Levrone, the American who improved her own world record to 50.37 seconds and kept her title from Tokyo, left Dutch competitor Femke Bol in her wake and in third medal place.

On an electrifying evening at the Stade de France, three of the five finals were won by Americans, but Lyles, the favorite, was not one of them.

Tara Davis-Woodhall won the women's long jump, and Grant Holloway captured the gold in the 110m hurdles, which had eluded him at the Tokyo Games three years prior.

Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan had a remarkable performance in the men's javelin, setting an Olympic record with a throw of 92.97 meters, earning his nation's first individual gold medal in the Summer Games.
Talk leading up to the men's 200-meter race was all about 100-meter champion Lyles trying to emulate Usain Bolt's sprint doubles.

However, an upset was about to occur as Tebogo, 21, won in a time that set an African record of 19.47 seconds, placing him fifth on the all-time list.

In addition, he became the first African to win the 200-meter Olympic event.

American Kenny Bednarek won silver in 19.62 seconds, while Lyles lost ground but still won bronze in 19.70 seconds.

"It means a lot to the African continent because now they see Africa as a sprinting home, so we just had to make sure that the message is loud and clear," Tebogo said.
"It was really a beautiful race for me," he stated.
After his mother Seratiwa passed away in May, he had ceased training for a month, and the spikes he wore to win the gold bear the date of his mother's birth. "It's basically me carrying her through every stride that I take inside the field."

After the race, Lyles, who was seen wearing a mask in the warm-up area, acknowledged that he had tested positive for Covid, stating that this had "definitely affected my performance". 

"But to be honest, I'm more proud of myself than anything," he said. "Coming out and getting the bronze medal with Covid."