Episode 597: Kenny Bednarek – Two-Time Olympic Silver Medalist, World Championship Silver Medalist, 10-Time Diamond League Champion
I'll Have Another with Lindsey Hein Podcast
SandyBoy Productions
4.9 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 14 March 2025
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
I’m beyond excited to bring a track athlete to the podcast today—two-time Olympic silver medalist and world championship silver medalist, Kenny Bednarek! He won silver in the 200 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, the Paris Olympics, and the 2022 World Championships. Not to mention, he’s also a 10-time Diamond League champion and runs for Nike.
If you’ve seen the Sprint documentary, you’ll recognize Kenny, as he was highlighted in season two, which was really cool to watch. Aside from his incredible accomplishments on the track, Kenny is also an advocate for adoption. He is from Wisconsin. We talked about his journey, which includes running at the community college level for Indian Hills Community College and then turning pro after a year.
One of the coolest parts of this episode was when I found out how excited my kids were about this interview—they were definitely more excited about talking to a sprinter than any long-distance runner I’ve had on. So, I made sure to sneak in a few questions from them, which was a fun twist!
We also dove into a bit of football talk because Kenny actually used to play the sport. Fun fact: his high school team won both the state championships in track and field and football during his senior year.
Kenny is also gearing up for the Grand Slam series as a racer—this is the new competition series that Michael Johnson’s team is putting on, and it’s going to be really exciting! The first event, the Kingston Slam, takes place from April 4th to 6th. After that, there will be one competition each month through June, including the Miami Slam, the Philadelphia Slam, and the LA Slam. Kenny is one of 96 athletes competing in this series, and I can’t wait to see how this brings even more exposure and excitement to the sport of track and field!
What we talked about:
7:30- Kenny’s training group
14:00- Reflections on some of his Olympic and World Champs teams
16:25- Kenny’s girlfriend and how they met
21:45- Grand Slam Track and growing the sport
27:00- His adoption story
34:50- Kenny’s time playing football
41:35- What his trajectory in the sport looks like to him
45:45- Technique in the sprints
52:00- Picking himself up after dissapointing results
55:40- Questions form the Hein boys
1:00:00- Competing for a junior college and then going pro
1:03:15- End of podcast questions
Show notes:
Zen in the Art of Archery
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a Sandy Boy Productions podcast. |
| 0:18.5 | Hey everybody, welcome to all have another podcast with Lindsay Hine. I am your host, Lindsay. |
| 0:23.3 | Thanks so much for joining us today. I am so excited to bring a track athlete to the podcast, two-time |
| 0:29.9 | Olympic silver medalist and world championship silver medalist Kenny Bednarik joins the show today. |
| 0:36.6 | He won silver in the 200 in the Tokyo Olympics, |
| 0:40.3 | the Paris Olympics, and the 2022 World Championships. He's also a 10-time Diamond League |
| 0:45.8 | champion. He runs for Nike. And if you watch the Sprint documentary, you would have seen him. |
| 0:52.8 | They highlighted him in season two, which was really |
| 0:55.7 | cool to see. He's an adoption advocate from Wisconsin. He actually ran at a community college. |
| 1:03.0 | He ran for Indian Hills Community College. So we talked about that trajectory a bit. And listen, |
| 1:09.3 | my kids were more excited about this interview than most interviews |
| 1:13.5 | I do because the sprinters are more exciting to them than the long distance runner. So I made |
| 1:22.0 | sure to get a couple questions in from them, which I thought was fun. And we got to talk a little bit about football because Kenny also used to play football. |
| 1:31.3 | Fun fact, his senior year of high school, his high school team won both a state championship |
| 1:36.1 | in track and field and in football. |
| 1:38.9 | Kenny is participating in the Grand Slam series as a racer, the series that Michael Johnson's team is putting on, |
| 1:46.2 | really exciting. They are gearing up to have that first competition, the Kingston Slam, April 4th |
| 1:52.5 | through 6th, and those will be once a month through June. So we've got the Kingston Slam, the Miami Slam, |
| 1:58.8 | the Philadelphia Slam, and the LA slam. |
| 2:02.1 | So he's one of 96 athletes competing in this. |
| 2:05.5 | It's going to be really exciting and fun to see how this brings more exposure and excitement |
| 2:10.2 | to the sport of track and field. |
... |
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