US sprinter Kenny Bednarek accuses Olympics officials of ‘favoritism’ over lane assignment

American sprinter Kenny Bednarek is accusing race officials of “favoritism” over the lane assignments of the men’s 200 meter final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Bednarek, the world-ranked No. 2 sprinter behind compatriot Noah Lyles, was unhappy with the lane assignment for Thursday’s race as he was placed away from the “preferred positions.”

Bednarek won his semifinal race with a time of 20.00, the second fastest of the final qualifiers,

“Kung Fu Kenny” was originally set to start in lane 4 while Lyles was set to race in lane 5.

American Erriyon Knighton and Botswanan runner Letsile Tebogo were placed in lanes 6 and 7, respectively.

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The middle 5-8 lanes are considered the preferred positions for the 200m, as the inside and outside lanes have issues with visibility around the bend.

“Never seen favoritism like this on a global scale,” Bednarek, the defending Olympic silver medalist, said in a post on X.

Bednarek launched a protest about the lane assignments, and organizers to reassign the lanes.

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He was moved to lane 8 following the protest.

Lyles, Bednarek, Knighton and Tebogo are the top-ranked runners in the event with the latter three all winning their semifinals on Wednesday.

Tebogo was the fastest out of all three semifinals, finishing in 19.96, followed by Bednarek (20.00) and Lyles (20.08) while Knighton and Dominican Republic runner Alexander Ogando both ran at 20.09.

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Ogando is now running in lane 4 after the officials switched him and Bednarek.

World Athletics officials complete three separate draws to determine the lane assignments in for the 200m finals.

The men’s 200m final is set to go off at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

With Post wires.

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