‘I beat Noah but didn’t accomplish...’

Kenny Bednarek had an exceptional 2024 season highlighted by winning Olympic silver medal in Paris

Olympics 200m silver medalist Kenny Bednarek has shared how his mother’s presence helped him heal from missing Olympics gold to Letsile Tebogo despite defeating serial rival Noah Lyles.

American sprinter Kenny Bednarek has revealed how his mother helped him overcome the disappointment of missing Olympics gold in Paris.

Bednarek headed into the Paris Olympics looking to shake off the Mr Silver tag after claiming second place at the 2020 Tokyo Games and 2023 World Championships, both in 200m.

Any hopes of doing it in 100m disappeared in thin air when he finished seventh in the final but he had his specialty 200m and 4X100m relay to make amends.

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He won all his 200m heats heading to the final but when it mattered most, he still came second, clocking 19.62 for a silver medal, behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, who won gold, although he got the better of Noah Lyles this time, as the world champion finished a surprising third.

That result did not go down well with Bednarek but he found solace and comfort in the arms of his watching mother who was in the stands to support him.

“I did beat Noah but I still didn’t accomplish what I wanted. I didn’t get the gold,” Bednarek said in Season 2 of the Netflix docuseries SPRINT.

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“But then my mom was just ecstatic. She was overwhelmed by happiness,” he went on.

The episode shows Bednarek’s mother in tears as she celebrates her son’s achievement.

She gives him a hug before telling him: “You did good. Get it next time,” after the sprinter had told her, “I almost had it.”

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The 26-year-old then reveals his delight at living his dream of becoming an Olympian and making his mother proud.

“When I was a little kid, I always said I wanted to be an Olympian and then the fact that I’m actually an Olympian and she’s actually there and witnessed it, I mean, yeah it’s just an amazing feeling,” he said.

“You know she was crying, giving me a hug. That was just a special moment between me and her.”

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Bednarek was born in Oklahoma with his twin brother Ian before they were adopted by Mary Bednarek who moved with them to Wisconsin where he honed his athletics skills, starting at school events.

The sprinter missed out on a shot at gold in the 4X100m relay after a poor baton exchange for Team USA that had him, Kyree King, Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley.

Coleman started the race well but when it came to the change over between him and Bednarek, they almost dropped the baton after the latter took off early, and it was later revealed that he was not even in the zone during the exchange, leading to their disqualification.