The course of sprinter Kenny Bednarek has actually been much from simple or standard. Plenty of uphill climbs up, also.
His experiences, however– foster treatment, being embraced, going the area university path, frequently outweighed– has actually just included power to his modify vanity, “Kung Fu Kenny.” That variation of him arises when he tips on the track and slides on his trademark headband.
That variation of him checks out his 2 Olympic silver medals in 2 means– suggestions, yes, of the success he’s had, yet an incentive for the success still yet to attain.
This period, he’s honed his break out of the beginning blocks and took his nourishment to one more degree to transform silver coatings right into gold. That begins perhaps in September at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo and later on at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I know I have the capability of being a champion,” stated Bednarek, that races this weekend break in Kingston, Jamaica, at the inaugural occasion of Grand Slam Track, a brand-new expert organization. “I’ve always just been hungry.”
Born in Tulsa, Okla., he and his fraternal double sibling, Ian, were embraced out of foster treatment at 4 years of ages by Mary Ann Bednarek, that had actually currently absorbed 2 women. The household transferred to Rice Lake in northwest Wisconsin when he was 12
“I had a lot of issues when I was a kid,” the 26-year-old Kenny Bednarek discussed. “My mom took so much time to help me become the person I am today. I mean, without her love, care and support, I don’t know where I would be.
” I may not be ‘Kung Fu Kenny’ I could be someplace stranded. She’s the large reason I’m right here today.”
Track, too. Because on the track, Bednarek could let his mind wander, to the places his feet might one day take him.
“Track was simply the portal that allow me do not hesitate,” explained Bednarek, who also played football. “It was simply me versus the clock.”
From Indian Hills to Olympics
Bednarek didn’t go to a big-time track powerhouse out of high school. Instead, he spent a season at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa.
That one season, though, showed Bednarek’s vast potential. He won 200 and 400 national titles at the 2019 NJCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Still, he’s been largely overlooked in a crowded field of high-profile sprinters that includes Americans standouts Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley and Erriyon Knighton, along with Andre De Grasse of Canada and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
Playing second-fiddle used to bother Bednarek and especially his alter ego, “Kung Fu Kenny”
” I had a truly large chip on my shoulder,” he said. “It was bothersome.”
Winning medals solved that. Maybe not always the favourite in a race, Bednarek always found a way to be in the mix.
Like at the Tokyo Games in 2021, when he finished runner-up to De Grasse in the 200. Or a year later at world championships when he took silver behind Lyles. At the Paris Games last summer, he won another silver in the 200 behind Tebogo.
Last summer’s medal remains special because his mom was watching in the stands. She was so happy for him, crying tears of joy, as they embraced after the race.
“Just to be able to radiate brilliant and have my mother witness that, it suggested a great deal,” he stated.
1 percent much better
< p design=" margin-left:0 in; margin-right:0 in">These days, he’s working out in Winter Garden, Fla., under coach Dennis Mitchell. His training group includes Sha’Carri Richardson and Christian Coleman.
“We simply have this iron-sharpens-iron mindset,” said Bednarek, who’s sponsored by Nike. “We’re all making each various other much better.”
His top task this spring is sharpening his starts out of blocks.
“If I can obtain that down, I seem like no one is mosting likely to have the ability to defeat me,” said Bednarek, whose top time in the 200 is 19.57 seconds. “I’m constantly attempting to include something that makes me 1% much better.”
For his dedication to nutrition — he’s eliminated gluten — and overall health, he credits Sharmila Nicollet, a professional golfer from India who he’s been dating since 2020.
” I made use of to believe, ‘Oh, I can rest whenever I desire, play computer game whenever I desire, and I’ll be great,”‘ Bednarek recounted. “She opened my eyes. It resembled, ‘OK, this is just how you come to be an Olympian and a medallist. This is what you have actually reached do.'”
Grand Slam Track launching
< p design=" margin-left:0 in; margin-right:0 in">Bednarek is among the runners of all distances – and hurdlers — taking part this weekend in Grand Slam Track, which was founded by Hall of Famer Michael Johnson.
The new league includes stops in Kingston, Miami (May 2-4), Philadelphia (May 30-June 1) and Los Angeles (June 27-29). In Kingston, Bednarek will face Kerley & Co. in the 100 on Friday and again in the 200 on Saturday.
“It’s an amazing possibility simply to be able to represent this organization,” Bednarek said. “It’s everything about rate, characters and informing fantastic tales.”
Like his.
< p design=" margin-left:0 in; margin-right:0 in">One question he constantly receives: What’s the story behind his alter-ego “Kung Fu Kenny?” Bednarek said it really stems from his love of anime. His favourite character is Naruto, a young ninja who’s seeking recognition.
“He’s a really consistent personality and does not surrender whatever,” Bednarek explained. ” I sort of reverberate with that said. Whatever you wish to attain, it will certainly not pertain to you– you need to help it. You need to go obtain it.”
