Rice Lake High School graduate Kenny Bednarek, 22, won the silver medal in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics Wednesday morning.
Bednarek, who won seven state track titles for Rice Lake, ran a personal-best 19.68 and bested fellow American Noah Lyles, who took bronze. Canadian Andre DeGrasse won the gold in 19.62 seconds.
After graduating from Rice Lake, Bednarek ran for Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, where he won national titles in both the 200 and 400. He was signed by Nike in 2019.
Bednarek got off to a strong start, leading the field into the bend and holding off Lyles as DeGrasse surged in the final 50 meters.
It lived up to the hype!
An intense men’s 200m final ends with Andre De Grasse taking the GOLD. 🥇#TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/xBohSMgDSL
— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2021
