"They refused to call doctor" - Noah Lyles' mother recalls 'scariest moment' when sprinter was gasping for breath inside the stadium at Paris Olympics

By Agnijeeta Majumder

Modified Aug 11, 2024 14:18 GMT

Noah Lyles' mother, Keisha Caine Bishop, shared that watching the hesitancy of the track security to call a doctor when her son lay on the track gasping for breath at the 2024 Paris Olympics was one of the scariest moments of her life. Lyles tested positive for COVID-19 two days before his 200m finals at the Games.

Lyles is the 100m and 200m reigning world champion, which made him a heavy gold favorite of both the events at the Paris Games. He clocked 9.79s and sealed victory in the 100m but faced an upset in the 200m with a COVID-19-stricken health. His time of 19.70s placed him in third position behind Botswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo and his US counterpart, Kenny Bednarek.

Although he tested positive, the head of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee allowed him to compete since the protocols were put in place for him and the medical personnel of USA Track were constantly monitoring. After the race, the 27-year-old collapsed on the ground and gasped for breath, but was not being attended by the stadium security.

Noah Lyles' mother, Keisha Caine Bishop expressed devastation over watching his son being ignored by the stadium security via Instagram:

"This was one of the scariest moments of my life! Watching my son hold his chest gasping for air while the stadium security refused to call a Dr. as I begged them to send him help. They also refused to do anything to help. They totally ignored me! No parent should ever have to experience this feeling of helplessness!"

She further thanked the NBC Olympics team for jumping into rescue and the USA Track and Field team for lending a shoulder.

Noah Lyles' mother shares the story of his son's asthma

Noah Lyles had suffered from severe asthma as a child and his mother was an integral support system during those times. He was left with a bark-like cough, which prompted people to mistake him for a dog during a press conference.

"One day I was on a conference call for work and the supervisor said, "Could somebody take their dog out?" his mother recalled (via Time Magazine).

The 100m reigning Olympic champion was always kept away from soft toys like teddy bears for fear of the accumulated dust worsening his condition.

In a clip of 'Untitled: The Noah Lyles Project', his mother shared how their bond got tighter after having dealt with health issues together.

"When he was young, he had so many health issues. He would have asthma every six weeks where he could hardly eat, he couldn't catch his breath long enough to eat. He was on a nebulizer treatment... for the first ten years of his life, that's pretty much what it was. At night when it was time to go to bed, he could not sleep if he laid down cause he couldn't breathe correctly. So, I would sit up all night and just hold him so that he could fall asleep in an upright position."

Noah Lyles alongside 40 other athletes tested positive for COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases at the 2024 quadrennial Games.