- Title: World champion Lyles guards his health in 'scary' times
- Date: 24th March 2020
- Summary: CLERMONT, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 24, 2020) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) AMERICAN SPRINTER, NOAH LYLES, SAYING: "I've been really keeping up on my health. I am kind of a risk factor dealing with allergies and having asthma does make your immune system kind of weak and really keep a close eye on my diet and just my health overall making sure that I do the right things, washing my hands constantly because I mean just by washing you hands you can get rid of a lot of germs and kill a lot of virus. There are some very easy simple things you can do. It is kind of a little bit of scary because I did have the swine flu back in the day so I know that my body is susceptible to catching maybe easier than others but that's why I have to work a little harder." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) AMERICAN SPRINTER, NOAH LYLES, SAYING: "It was a little relief to see that the Olympics has decided to postponed because my first concern was that everybody be healthy and that everybody would have a fair place to compete so actually seeing it delayed gives me a little bit of secure that the Olympics is worried about everybody and trying to keep everybody in good health and good spirits and then also seeing that that World Athletics is in support of that again makes me feel good about my sport." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) AMERICAN SPRINTER, NOAH LYLES, SAYING: "You know you look over the history of the Olympics and you see it's usually war that kind of stops the Olympics from happening. Seeing a virus come and affects a small part now it's affecting everybody. It really puts into perspective that we're all kind of human and dealing with the same things. It's all of our jobs to try and handle the best we can. I always try to see things in the greater light. I have a great team around me and we always try to see things in the best outlook possible. I just see this as more time to hone my skills. I've been doing really, really well in training but this gives me longer extension to better increase my abilities."
- Embargoed: 8th April 2020 00:10
- Keywords: Noah Lyles Olympics Tokyo 2020 corona virus
- Location: CLERMONT, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- City: CLERMONT, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Athletics,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA001C6EY7GF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: With allergies and asthma, world 200 metres champion Noah Lyles believes he is "kind of a risk factor" as the coronavirus pandemic spreads.
The American sprinter is keeping a close eye on his diet and washing his hands constantly, he told a teleconference on Tuesday (March 24).
"It is kind of a little bit scary because I did have the swine flu back in the day (as a child), so I know my body is susceptible to catching, maybe a little bit easier than others, so that is why I have got to work it harder," he said.
There was some relief for the 22-year-old on Tuesday, therefore, when the Tokyo Olympics, where he was expected to shine, were postponed until 2021 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Games organisers.
"It was a little relief to see that the Olympics have decided to postpone because my first concern was that everyone would be healthy and everybody would have a fair place to compete," said Lyles, who hopes to make a big splash when the Games are held by going for gold in both the 100 and 200 metres and 4x100 metres relay.
He also hopes there will be a 2020 athletics season and is training with that objective.
With Americans being asked to be careful in making contact with others, Lyles is spending more time inside playing video games and making music, two of his favourite pastimes.
"I don't think anybody was really prepared for this virus happening," Lyles said. "I just see this as more time to hone my skills (athletically). I've been doing really, really well in training."
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