Corona is killing athletic stars
Thursday at the Olympics brings the big athletics show: Sprint star Noah Lyles is in action, along with long jumper Malaika Mihambo. Both are fighting for gold - and their health. The evening ends with both temporarily in wheelchairs.
Bitter images remain at the end of a big athletics evening. German long jumper Malaika Mihambo is taken out of the arena in a wheelchair after her hard-fought silver at the Olympics. Similarly, American showman and super sprinter Noah Lyles is taken out of the Stade de France stadium by helpers after winning the bronze medal in the 200 meters. Both top athletes have been affected by the coronavirus. Lyles started with an infection, while the 30-year-old German is still struggling with the aftermath.
For the extroverted American, who wanted to win gold on his showcase distance, his health carelessness seems to have had bitter consequences. "I believe this is the end of my 2024 Olympics," the 27-year-old wrote on Instagram. Originally, Lyles was supposed to run in the 4x100-meter relay tonight and the 4x400-meter relay tomorrow. But it seems that won't happen. He leaves the stage with gold in the closest 100-meter race in history and now bronze over the double distance.
"You have to admit you watched, right?"
"These aren't the Games I dreamed of, but I have so much joy in my heart," Lyles wrote on Instagram: "I hope everyone enjoyed the show. Whether you cheered for me or against me, you have to admit you watched, right?" His unprecedented quadruple gold mission failed prematurely. Letsile Tebogo and Kenneth Bednarek (also USA) were faster in the 200 meters the night before. The winner from Botswana sprinted to the finish in 19.46 seconds with a slight tailwind, making him the fifth fastest runner in history on this distance. After the race, Lyles was taken out of the arena in a wheelchair, looking completely exhausted. He had already been wearing a mask in the call room.
"I woke up early on Tuesday, around 5 am, and I felt really terrible," Lyles told NBC: "I knew it was more than just muscle soreness from the 100 meters. We woke up the doctors and took a test, which unfortunately came back positive for corona. It took its toll, for sure." He still wanted to run. "They said it's impossible," Lyles recounted. His time of 19.70 seconds was still quite respectable, although it was almost four tenths of a second off his best time.
The US federation had approved his start and followed a corona protocol since the positive test. "It definitely affected me, but honestly, I'm so proud of myself for going out and getting the bronze medal with corona," Lyles said.
Mihambo had a similar experience. The effects of the corona infection she felt at the European Championships in Rome two months ago pushed her to her physical limits this time, causing a coughing fit. "After the victory lap, I really couldn't breathe, it was too much," she reported. "Since corona hit my lungs, I need more time to recover. I'm out of breath after the competition."
The larger her pride was, the greater was her pride, even if she had to leave the gold to the American co-favorite Tara Davis-Woodhall. The second in the World Championships jumped 12 centimeters further with 7.10 meters. Mihambo was incredibly proud after the competition with six jumps for the first time since the European Championship: "That's something that's hard to achieve, starting like that and still getting a silver medal." Her coach Ulli Knapp emphasized: "Malaika won silver and didn't lose gold."
She still feels tired and exhausted
The Thursday evening in Saint-Denis in the north of Paris had many similarities to the European Championships two years ago in Munich. There too, the strong athlete had secured silver after a corona infection, and there too, nothing happened after the competition. Mihambo spoke of a boundary experience.
"I've had lung problems in the last two weeks. I started coughing," said Mihambo. She couldn't sleep much at night because of it. Even when she won the EM title in Rome at the beginning of June, she felt the consequences of the next infection and had to take a break. "I still feel tired and exhausted," she said after the most important competition of the season. At least she felt better, so she wants to speak again at 10 am today, like the sixth-placed javelin thrower Julian Weber, in the German House in Paris.
More than 40 corona cases in Australia's team
Corona, which had once significantly influenced everyday life and was suddenly hardly a topic anymore, returned to the focus of these games. There had already been more than 40 corona infections or other respiratory illnesses in Australia's Olympic team, as reported by Australia's swimming head coach Rohan Taylor and team doctor Carolyn Broderick to the Australian agency AAP. Among the affected were also some members of the swimming team, such as the second in the Olympics over 200 meters breaststroke, Zac Stubblety-Cook. According to Rohan, some Australian athletes participated in the competitions despite a positive Covid test, while others waived their start.
Within Australia's Olympic team, two PCR test devices have been used in the Olympic village to quickly react to corona, according to team chief Anna Meares. According to team doctor Broderick, a total of 84 PCR tests were carried out by Monday, with about half of them being positive.
There had also been prominent corona cases in the German team before. Ten-fighter Manuel Eitel had to cancel his start, which was "one of the worst days of my life" for him. There were corresponding protective measures for the athletes. In the plane, they would wear masks again, and the usual routines from the corona time had been revived, said sports director Jörg Büchner.
After the corona scare around Eitel, the athletics team felt with the downcast colleague and was warned again. "It breaks your heart as an athlete. I got goosebumps because I was so lucky and recovered in time," said sprinter Gina Lückenkemper. She had made a corona infection public before the games.
Despite the challenging health situations, both Noah Lyles and Malaika Mihambo managed to secure medals at the Olympic Games. Despite winning bronze in the 200 meters, Lyles was taken out of the Stade de France stadium in a wheelchair due to coronavirus complications, while Mihambo battled coughing fits due to the aftermath of her own coronavirus infection.
