“She is the biggest reason why I have been so successful”- Kenny Bednarek opens up on girlfriend Sharmila Nicollet’s pivotal role in his career

Kenny Bednarek credited his girlfriend Sharmila Nicollet as the key to his career success. Bednarek enhanced his medal collection at the 2024 Paris Olympics by earning a silver medal in the men's 200m, replicating his previous silver finish in the same event which he collected in Tokyo.

Bednarek has also been very vocal about Nicollet playing a crucial role in his career. The two met one another during the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrated their four years of togetherness on June 1, 2024.

He first mentioned that a conversation with Sharmila Nicollet during the COVID-19 pandemic was a pivotal moment in his life. The 25-year-old believes that if he hadn't met her during that time, he wouldn’t be the successful athlete he is today. In the Running Effect podcast, he said (32:24 onwards):

“I think the biggest thing for me is just the people that have been around me. If I would say for real, if I didn't meet my girlfriend in 2020, I think that's when COVID started coming up, if I didn't meet her, I think we wouldn't be having this conversation. I don't think I would be who I am today.”

He further mentioned:

“I mean, she is the biggest reason why I have been so successful, just because she's a professional athlete as well. She's a professional golfer and she knows what it takes because she's been on that level.”

Kenny Bednarek recalled the conversation that took place between them, adding:

“And meeting her, it was kind of like, hey, I want to be an Olympian. And then she laughed at my face saying, well, you gotta step it up.

He added:

“I don't think there would be a Kung Fu Kenny, just because she's, I would say 80, 90% of the reason why I'm the professional athlete I am today. So I give a lot of my success to her. And I thank her for, I mean, even now, she's helped me out with a lot of things. So without her, a lot of things wouldn't have worked.”

A look into Kenny Bednarek’s successful track career

Kenny Bednarek, Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton of Team United States at World Athletics Championships 2022. (Source: Getty Images)

Besides being a two-time Olympic medalist, Kenny Bednarek is a silver medalist at the World Athletics Championships in the same event. He accomplished this feat by finishing only second to Noah Lyles, who clocked a national record of 19.31s, in the 200m finals, with a season-best time of 19.77s.

Additionally, Bednarek played a key role in the USA's 4x100m relay team as he helped them qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics with his performance in the heats at the World Athletics Relays. He later contributed to the team's gold-medal victory in the event during the finals.

Bednarek is also renowned for being one of the few people to run both sub-20s and sub-45s on the same day. He achieved this at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national championships, clocking 19.82s in the 200m and 44.73s in the 400m to emerge as the champion in both disciplines.