Kenny Bednarek topples Letsile Tebogo in 200m showdown to win the Diamond League

BRUSSELS, Belgium — American Kenny Bednarek avenged his Olympic loss to Letsile Tebogo, running 19.67s for the most impressive sprinting performance of the two-day Diamond League Final.

The cold weather this weekend in Brussels, Belgium was on everyone’s mind as the thermostat flirted with 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Bednarek ran one of the few eye-catching performances of the weekend, and, in an in-stadium interview, credited growing up in Wisconsin with helping him perform in the cold.

Day two of the final was more thrilling than day one but was altogether a mixed bag for fans who had seen record after record fall over the last few months.

Favorites win in the 400m hurdles

It would have taken a lot for Femke Bol or Alison Dos Santos to lose against fields considerably diminished compared to the Olympic finals. Femke won easily in 52.45s with a conservative pace through the first 200m. The men’s race was tighter, and Dos Santos ran 47.93s to win as a late-race stumble cost runner-up Abderrahman Samba valuable time on the straight.

Sydney almost wins from the “B” Heat

Outside of the official Diamond League program, Sydney McGlaughlin-Levrone ran the 200m. Going into the race, her personal best was 22.07s. Breaking the 22-second barrier would have been sweet. Sydney won convincingly but in 22.40s. Her time earned her second in combined ranking. Sha’Carri Richardson was a late scratch after all, and American Brittany Brown won in 22.20s.

Though Sydney won’t be thrilled by her 400m or 200m performances here, American women will be elated to know that Brittany Brown’s Diamond League win means three women plus Brown can qualify for the World Championships in Tokyo.

Camacho-Quinn rockets last two hurdles for 12.38

Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn went into overdrive and won the women’s high hurdles races convincingly. Jamaican Ackera Nugent, who had a great string of wins on circuit, ended up third. France’s Cyréna Samba-Mayela, who won a silver medal in Paris, received an ovation from the Belgian crowd. She finished way back in seventh.

Challengers Refuse to pass Winfred Yavi as meet record attempt turns into a bust

Winfred Yavi seemed to be on a mission after narrowly missing the 3k Steeplechase world record last week. Though she ran steadily behind the pacer and bravely once out on her own, when it came time to share the burden with the two women who had gone with her, they refused to pass her. The pace slowed and slowed until it became something like tempo pace for the world-class women. Yavi, essentially demanding that someone pass her, finally got her wish, and, incredibly, she was unable to reel Faith Cherotich, a meaningful rival but on this night a bad sport, back in. Yavi finished second in 9:02.87.

Beatrice Chebet and… Gianmarco Tamberi?

In the women’s 5k, Beatrice Chebet ran strong from the front, establishing separation from the field and leading by more than 40m for crucial stretches of the race. Fans in the stadium were anxiously calculating world record splits, then personal record splits, then, finally, meeting record splits, as Chebet ran well ahead of the green pacing lights.

Once the 5k started to become interesting, Gianmarco Tamberi cleared 2.34m on his final attempt of the high jump. Elated, he continued jumping–purely for joy–and all eyes were on him. Unfortunately, one of those pairs of eyes belonged to a cameraman on the inside rail just past the finish line. That member of the media lurched into lane one to capture a shot of Tamberi celebrating in the outside lanes, and nearly took out Chebet. Then, sloppily, he stepped back, only to drop his camera lenses into lane one, nearly impeding Medina Eisa and Fotyen Tesfay. It was a chaotic scene that almost ended very badly.

Ryan Crouser misses another Diamond League title

Ryan Crouser, the three-time Olympic gold medalist in the shot put, is now the three-time Diamond League final loser over the last three contests. Crouser never got into his rhythm as Italian Leonardo Fabrici threw 22.98m to take it. Joe Kovacs, who was expected to challenge Crouser, finished with no marks.

Marco Arop hits the “David Rudisha Split” but can’t hold it

There was no world record in the 800m set on Saturday night. However, through 400m the crowd believed there would be one. That’s because Marco Arop tracked the pacer and ran through 400m in 49.28s — the same 400m split that David Rudisha hit when he ran the 800m world record in 2012. There were gasps in the stadium, as true fans of the 800m had the same phrase ringing in their ears “--it’s quick!” There were gasps in the stadium.

Ultimately, Arop went out too fast. He slowed slightly 1:15.5 through 600m and ran just 14.4s in the last 100m. It looked to be a win for Djamel Sedjati, but Emmanuel Wanyonyi came from lane three to “Sedjati” Sedjati with a seemingly impossible last 50m sprint.

This exciting 800m finale guarantees huge expectations heading into next season.

Kenny Bednarek prevails over Letsile Tebogo

Kenny Bednarek, fresh off a 19.57s personal best, was the preselected challenger to Tebogo. Tebogo, however, seemed to be invincible once the season got going, and it was thought that he could have dipped into the 19.3s range in this race.

From the start, however, it was all Kenny B. He ran one of the fastest turns that this author has ever witnessed, straightened out in the lead, and never looked back. 19.67s in these “slow” conditions was huge, and he made sure to shout out his home state of Wisconsin as the incredulous interviewer asked him to describe his performance right after.

This Diamond League win is a godsend for the United States, who will now send four men to Tokyo in 2025 and will likely see all four of them advance to the final. Thank you, Mr. Bednarek.