Asthma didn't stop Noah Lyles from taking on the 200 meter at the Paris Olympics, even after testing positive for COVID-19. Despite fears of bronchitis and conflicting reports about his fever, Lyles won a bronze medal just two days after his positive test.
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00:00I've always known that I'm the fastest man in the world.
00:03It's everybody else who's just figuring that out,
00:06because they usually like a title associated with it.
00:09And in my head, I'm like, well, if that's what you guys need,
00:12I'm going to get it.
00:13I'm going to get the proof.
00:15But to me, I'm still the same guy.
00:17I hope the message that they got is,
00:20no matter what obstacles or hurdles that you have
00:23and you're facing, that you don't believe that you're
00:25going to be stuck with them forever.
00:26That that shouldn't diminish what
00:28you believe to be accomplished as you go on through life.
00:33I know a lot of people who get stuck in that space
00:35because they feel this is a disability
00:39or this is the cap as far as they can go,
00:42just because they have such a thing as depression, anxiety.
00:47Maybe they are amputee.
00:50Maybe they deal with being on the spectrum.
00:53That shouldn't matter.
00:55Your goals should not be limited to the situation
00:58that you're in, because you can always shoot for more.
01:01And if you don't, why should you hurt yourself
01:05or blame yourself for not trying?
01:07Anytime I've gotten COVID, it's never been
01:09about the temperatures.
01:09It's always been about the body aches, the chills,
01:13the headaches, the cold, and then asthma joining in on that
01:17and making it even worse.
01:19That's our worst fear.
01:21I mean, when I was back in the medical bay
01:25underneath the track, their biggest concern
01:27was me getting bronchitis, because we didn't want something
01:32to get infected and the asthma really start to take form.
01:36So we had to really jump on top of that,
01:38because if that was the case, I probably
01:41would have had to get a trip to the hospital for sure.
01:46And of course, no, this is not how
01:49I envisioned my Paris Olympics.
01:51But I'm just as proud of myself as I
01:55would have been if I obtained four or three gold medals.
01:59Grabbing the 100 was, I think, the most important thing.
02:01As my mom used to say, the higher
02:03you go up on the ladder, the more your underwear show.
02:06So regardless, people are going to have opinions.
02:10And to be honest, they've never met me,
02:13so they wouldn't know.
02:14But everybody who's ever met me comes away saying,
02:16oh my gosh, I feel so inspired.
02:18That was the coolest guy I've ever met.
02:21I think the thing that I'm the most proud of for him
02:24is that he has a teachable heart.
02:26So that is something that you can't really parent,
02:29you can't really coach.
02:31So if I say something to him, I'm like,
02:33Noah, I think you might want to consider X, Y, and Z.
02:35Then he'll actually sit down and listen.
02:38Or if I say, Noah, I think this came off inappropriately.
02:42Or Noah, let's not do this.
02:45Then instead of saying, oh mom, you
02:46don't know what you're talking about, he'll actually listen.
02:48And I might be right and I might be wrong.
02:50But the fact that he actually listens to myself
02:54and his pops is what makes the difference.
02:57And I really appreciate the fact that he'll even
02:59send a text message after we have
03:01the uncomfortable conversations.
03:03He'll say something like, thank you for telling me the things
03:06that I didn't want to hear.
03:07Thank you for being honest with me.
03:09Thank you for being part of my family.
03:11Because those show emotional maturity.
03:14So yeah, this is all great and the medals and everything,
03:16but it's those moments that I'm the most proud of him for.