Kenny Bednarek stole the show in the men’s 200m at the Diamond League Meeting final in Brussels, beating Motswana wunderkind Letsile Tebogo.
The American crossed the finish line in a time of 19.67 seconds ahead of the Olympic champion Tebogo who was forced to settle for second in 19.80 seconds. Alexander Ogando also has a chance to rejoice after finishing third in 19.97.
Bednarek entered the race and had one main goal in mind, to win the race after finishing second in most of his races throughout the season. He had a great start off the blocks and maintained the momentum, a move that paid off well for him.
The two US sprinters will add spice to Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track which is set to be the highest paying track meet in the world.
Bednarek has been lethal this season, punching the 100m and 200m tickets to the Paris Olympic Games after finishing second and third in the 200m and 100m respectively at the US Olympic trials.
At the Paris Olympics, Bednarek finished seventh in the men’s 100m final but bounced back to a second-place finish in the men’s 200m. After the Olympics, he began his Diamond League final campaign at the Diamond League Meeting in Silesia with a third-place finish.
The former world 200m silver medallist proceeded to finish second at the Diamond League Meeting in Zurich before his dominant performance in Brussels.
On his part, Tebogo has been in great shape this season and has enjoyed an unbeaten streak after the Olympics until the Diamond League Meeting final. The reigning Olympic champion started his Diamond League final campaign in Lausanne before proceeding to claim the win in Silesia.
He was not done with his dominant exploits as he proceeded to claim the wins in Rome and Zurich. He raced at the Grand Prix Lombardia and won before settling for second in Brussels.
Fred Kerley was also in the race and he could only afford a fifth-place finish in a time of 20.21 behind Lindsey Courtney. Kyree King finished behind Kerley as Liberia’s Joseph Fahnbulleh clocked 20.53 for a seventh-place finish.
Fred Kerley has supported Letsile Tebogo in pleading with World Athletics to bring back an athletics competition that was done away with in 2020.