Noah Lyles' Olympic rival speaks out after Team USA star ran the 200m final with COVID - without telling his fellow sprinters

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Olympic track star Kenny Bednarek addressed his rival Noah Lyles competing in the 200m final with Covid. 

Lyles needed to be wheeled out of the track at the Paris Olympics on Thursday after finishing third behind fellow American Bednarek. 

In a post-race press conference, the silver medalist said he wasn't too sure 'what was going on' with his teammate. 

'I don’t know, I don’t care,' he said, when asked whether he was bothered by Lyles running with the viral illness.

'If I get sick, I’ll be fine, if he gets sick, it’s a cold. I don’t view those things as a big deal. I am healthy. I do everything to make sure my body is healthy,' he went on. 

Kenny Bednarek addressed his rival Noah Lyles competing in the 200m final with Covid

'I give him a hug regardless of if he’s sick or not. I don’t care about those things,' he said

'I don’t get sick easily ... I give him a hug regardless of if he’s sick or not. I don’t care about those things.'

Bednarek also noted he's been 'minding [his] own business' in the Olympic Village and wasn't sure whether Covid could be running rampant. 

'I am care free, I am not seeing certain things because I am minding my own business,' he told reporters. 

Meanwhile, Lyles said he had no regrets over competing, despite the inevitable risk of spreading the virus to other athletes, who he hugged and shook hands with after the race.

While masked up, the USA star told NBC, 'I woke up early about 5am Tuesday morning, feeling really horrible. I knew it was more than being sore from the 100. My first thought was not to panic, I've ben in worse situations, I've been in worse conditions.'

Lyles ran the men's 200m final in Paris with Covid, he revealed after the race

The American needed to be wheeled away in the moments after the race in shocking scenes

He went on, 'I took it day by day, tried to hydrate as much. It would say it has taken its toll, for sure, but I have never been more proud of myself coming out here and getting a bronze.'

When asked if he considered withdrawing, he gave an emphatic response. 

'No. No. We just said we were going to quarantine as much as possible and not try and pass it on,' he said. 

There are no rules that force athletes to withdraw from events, with all Covid protocols dropped for the Paris Games. 

Lyles later said that the other competitors were unaware of his diagnosis: 'We tried to keep it close to our chest. The medical staff, my coach and my mum knew.

'We didn’t want everybody to go into a panic. We wanted to be able to compete. We wanted to be able to make it discreet as possible and you don’t want to tell your competitors you are sick. Why would you give them an edge?'

Lyles (back left) crossed the line in third place, despite being the red-hot favorite 

Lyles was seen wearing a mask in the moments before his competition began in Paris