US sprinter Kenny Bednarek has accused officials of “playing favourites” over lane allocations for the men’s 200m final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Bednarek, a sprinter ranked No. 2 in the world behind compatriot Noah Lyles, was unhappy that his lane allocation for Thursday’s race had left him out of the “preferred position.”
Bednarek won the semifinal in a time of 20.00, the second-fastest time in the final qualifying round.
“Kung Fu Kenny” was originally scheduled to start in lane four, with Lyles racing in lane five.
American Elyon Knighton and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo were placed in lanes six and seven respectively.
The inside and outside lanes have visibility issues around the curves, so the center lanes 5-8 are considered the preferred position for the 200m race.
“I’ve never seen favoritism like this on a global scale,” said Bednarek, the Olympic silver medalist. Post to X.
Bednarek started a protest about lane allocations, calling on organizers to reallocate the lanes.
He was moved to lane 8 after the protest.
Lyles, Bednarek, Knighton and Tebogo were the top-ranked runners in the meet, with the last three winning their semifinals on Wednesday.
2024 Paris Olympics
Tebogo was the fastest of the three semifinalists in 19.96 seconds, followed by Bednarek (20.00) and Lyles (20.08), while Knighton and Dominican Republic runner Alexander Ogando both ran 20.09 seconds.
The umpire switched Ogando and Bednarek, so Ogando was now running in lane four.
World Athletics officials held three draws to determine lane allocations for the 200m final.
The men’s 200m final is scheduled to start at 2:30pm ET.
With post wire.
