Even when I caught up with Kenny Bednarek around Christmastime, when he went home, it was fast.
"Yeah, I haven’t been home since last Christmas," Kenny Bednarek said. "So just to come up here, see the snow, see the family—it means the world to me. I barely get the chance to see them. So, I don’t know, every single time I come home, it’s just reminiscing and being glad to be here."
Here, is Rice Lake, Wisconsin.
"As you know, it’s a town of 8,000 people," Bednarek said. "Maybe a little bit more now. Everybody knows each other. Everybody supports each other. So it just made me humble, even when I was on top of the world."
From Florida, where he trains, to Tokyo, where he earned a silver medal in the 200 meters, this young man from Northern Wisconsin defies the odds.
"My whole life has kind of been like that," Bednarek said. "I mean, I was adopted. So, realistically, the route I’ve already taken is already, you know, tough. Just being adopted, being in Oklahoma, being in Rice Lake—most people don’t get in this situation when coming from a small town."
Watch: How Kenny Bednarek is putting the small town of Rice Lake, Wisconsin on the map:
Now, after finishing second in the 2020 Olympics, Kenny embraces possibly being the second-fastest human in the world. But he wants more.
"It adds motivation because I was that close to getting the gold that one time," Bednarek said. "So every time I see it, it’s always like, ‘Dang, I almost had it.’ So now, what do I gotta do differently to get it this year? It’s out there for display, and it’s a constant reminder of what I could have had back then. But now, the goal is to get it this year. And being the second fastest is nice, but I wanna be number one. So far, the past couple of years, it’s eluded me. The goal is to get number one and stay on top when I get there."
So there’s only one thing left to achieve in Paris: gold.
"It means everything," Bednarek said. "Like I said, we went to Tokyo. The whole COVID situation kind of made everything a little bit weird. We weren’t able to have family and friends out there. So just being in the stadium and seeing empty stands—it was a weird feeling. This is my second chance to get that gold medal, and I’ll actually have my friends and family there. It’s going to mean the world. I think we’re going to get the job done this year."
So watch for Kung Fu Kenny, who even aims to live up to his catchy nickname.
"‘You’re Kung Fu Kenny, but do you actually know kung fu?’" Bednarek said. "And I remember somebody asked me that, so we started picking that up just to make it more legit. I finally got myself a little round kick."
Lance Allan asked, "That’s awesome! So you can actually do a couple of moves?"
"I can do a couple, but it’s very slow right now because I just started taking my lessons," Bednarek said.
Kenny Bednarek travels internationally, and still gets asked, "Rice Lake, where’s that?" But when he’s announced, he’s proud to put it on the map.
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