"You could tell Dennis Mitchell was in his ear" - Justin Gatlin heaps praise on Kenny Bednarek as American sprinter beats Letsile Tebogo for DL title

By Soumik Bhattacharya

Modified Sep 20, 2024 16:06 GMT

Former United States track and field athlete Justin Gatlin recently lauded Kenny Bednarek for his performance against Letsile Tebogo in the men's 200m event of the 2024 Diamond League finals in Brussels.

After three consecutive defeats against Tebogo in Paris, Silesia, and Zurich, Bednarek finally got one over his rival by winning the 200m Diamond League 2024 title.

Bednarek registered a run-time of 19.67 seconds at the Brussels event, just 0.10 seconds short of his personal best in the distance that he set at the Zurich Diamond League meet.

Nearly a week after the conclusion of the 2024 Diamond League finals, Gatlin shed light on Bednarek's impressive performance in an episode of the Ready Set Go Podcast (released on September 19). The five-time Olympic medalist praised Bednarek for the consistency he has shown throughout the season, saying (at 51:33):

"He (Bednarek) put together a really good season, you know what I'm saying. He wants to get out of that kind of silver bracket but it shows consistency that's the respect you need to have for this process."

Gatlin also commented on the contributions of Kenny Bednarek's coach Dennis Mitchell behind the 25-year-old's performance.

"Congratulations to Kenny, he did a great run. He came off that turn and I already knew Dennis (Dennis Mitchell) was in his ears man, 'you better make that separation man he gonna come off that turn, and Tebogo he gonna pause for a second and you need to just keep on running and don't even look back,'" Gatlin said.

Tebogo eventually secured second place in the final after clocking a run-time of 19.80 seconds. This was just his second defeat in this 2024 track field season over the 200m distance since the Kip Keino classic.

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Kenny Bednarek ends 2024 track and field season with three Diamond League meet victories

Kenny Bednarek on the second day of the 2024 Diamond League finals (Image via: Getty Images)

Kenny Bednarek's 2024 track and field campaign saw him clinch some important laurels such as the Olympic silver medal and the 200m Diamond League title in Brussels. Besides his impressive outing in Brussels, Bednarek also won at two more Diamond League meets in Eugene (Prefontaine Classic) and Doha.

All of his three Diamond League wins came over the 200m distance, his specialization event. In Eugene and Doha, he registered run-times of 19.89 seconds, and 19.67 seconds respectively to win the events over Courtney Lindsey, who finished second in both meets with run-times of 20.09 and 20.01 seconds respectively.

Besides his three Diamond League victories this season, Kenny Bednarek also earned podium finishes at the Zurich (3rd) and Silesia (2nd) Diamond League meets.