For the second time in his Olympic career, Rice Lake native Kenny Bednarek took home a medal after finishing second in the men's 200-meter dash in Paris. Bednarek took a silver medal in the same race in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Finishing second in the race with a time of 19.62 seconds. He finished right behind Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, and USA sprinter Noah Lyles took bronze in the event. Bednarek's silver medal performance in Tokyo was a 19.68-second finish, while this year, he ran it in 19.62 seconds, just missing out on his personal best of 19.59 seconds, which he set in June at the Olympic Trials.
While in Paris, Bednarek also competed in the 100-meter dash, automatically qualifying for the finals with a fourth-place finish in the second semifinal heat crossing in 9.93 seconds. He made his mark in the 100-meter finals, finishing seventh with a time of 9.88 seconds. Although he didn't medal in the shorter distance, his strong performance across both events solidifies his status as one of the world's top sprinters, continuing to represent the U.S. at the highest level of competition.