That is Deji Ogeyingbo’s function of Kenny Bednarek and the way his rivals must take his racing severely.
Is Kenny Bednarek’s 200m World Lead real or an artfully preserved facade
Right here we go! Kenny Bednarek strikes first. Who would have guessed that the American sprinter can be the primary athlete to run a sub-19.70s this season over the 200m? Expectedly, all of the talks have been about Letsile Tebogo, Courtney Lindsey, and the world champion, Noah Lyles. However in Doha, Bednarek reached a brand new stage of sprinting that shook the sprinting world.
With a World Lead, assembly report, and Private Better of 19.67s, the American is now the person to catch in the intervening time over the gap. Actually, many didn’t see this coming from him. Nevertheless, should you look intently, the indicators have been there for the previous few weeks. Bednarek appears to be in the very best form of his life in the intervening time, and the lead to Doha is a sign that he’s intent on jostling for the larger fish within the pond reasonably than enjoying second fiddle with different sprinters.
The road-up over this Diamond League meet in Doha isn’t one you’ll hypothetically line up in a world championship remaining, but it surely nonetheless had some large weapons whose potential was by way of the roof. There have been 5 sprinters, together with Bednarek, who had run sub-20s of their profession prior to now. Nonetheless, Bednarek turned on the afterburners to win by a margin of 0.34s. Lindsey, who had held the joint world lead over the half-lap, struggled for kind with about 50m to go. So have been the others.
Jeopardy, peril, parry, thrust, bumps within the highway, boiling tempers, and fevered brows—these components often outline an athlete’s journey main as much as the Olympics. But, Bednarek has chosen a unique path. He’s disregarded these challenges, choosing a seamless journey towards excellence to date.
Bednarek had opened up his season with a 100m win on the Tom Jones Memorial in Florida, clocking 10.01s. He solely obtained the eye primarily due to his close to win over his countryman, Lyles. The world champion needed to crawl his strategy to get joint first place with Bednarek. Maybe, if it was over the 200m, he would have surged previous him, we will’t inform. However the win did loads for his confidence.
What you get from Bednarek as a sprinter is the sort of faint digital hum you affiliate with a family equipment you might have lengthy since taken with no consideration. Lots of people noticed him within the mild of being primarily a 200m sprinter. Possibly as a result of there’s a stereotype of most of these runners not having an important begin. Lyles appears to be debunking that extra just lately as he has stepped down even past the 100m to the 60m.
Per week after his win in Florida, Bednarek handed a defeat to the reigning African Champion Ferdinand Omanyala on his residence soil on the Kip Kieno Basic. It was a dominant victory- 9.91s (+2.2m/s) over the remainder of the sphere.
Maybe one in all Bednarek’s standout races this 12 months was his second leg cut up for the US males’s 4x100m remaining race within the Bahamas. It appeared easy, however his grace on the monitor down that again straight as he zoomed previous the reigning Olympic Champion Marcel Jacobs in 8.95s was pleasing to the attention, and that ought to have been the largest indication of the place he’s bodily and mentally.
For Bednarek, a part of this intense calm from his racing is fueled by his expertise of successful Silver medals on the 2020 Olympics and the 2022 World Championships: not solely the information of getting been right here earlier than however the safety that he has no chip on his shoulder going into the Olympics in Paris.
In fact, what stays to be seen is whether or not this can be a actual win or whether or not we’re merely residing by way of a skillfully maintained phantasm of this world-leading over the 200m. Additionally, bewilderment in regards to the rundown to the Olympics turns into inevitable when your whole rivals know the type of form you’re in. That is Bednarek’s universe now, and even while you push on the partitions, it’s by no means totally clear how a lot of it’s actual and the way a lot projection.
