Kenny Bednarek leads Americans to 1-2-3 finish in 200m sprint at Doha Diamond League
Aaron Brown 5th; Fellow Canadian Kieran Lumb less than 1 second shy of Olympic standard in 1,500m PB
American sprinters continue to have bragging rights over their Canadian men's counterparts on the young track season.
Kenny Bednarek, fresh off winning a 4x100-metre gold medal at World Relays last weekend in the Bahamas, dominated the men's 200 metres in a winning and personal-best time of 19.67 seconds on Friday at a Diamond League meet in Doha, Qatar.
The 2021 Olympic silver medallist now boasts a season world-leading time and also took down the 19.83 meet record held by fellow American Noah Lyles since May 4, 2018.
On a clear, windy and warm night night (30 C), Bednarek said he was confident of running a world-leading time if the weather co-operated.
"I knew I was in a good shape because my teammates would push me at practice," said Bednarek, who wore a headband with the words "Fear no one" during the race. "Running this fast, this early is really good [and] means I will be fast by the time we start the [Paris] Olympics [in August].
"My main focus is not the time, but competing and making sure we get the job done."
WATCH | Bednarek runs 19.67 seconds in record-setting 200m performance in Doha:
Courtney Lindsey, the 2023 NCAA silver medallist in the 200, held the previous world lead of 19.71. He finished second on Friday in 20.01, followed by Kyree King in 20.21, who ran 20.11 on April 20 at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif.
"I expected to run a litle bit faster," King said. "I could have executed a little better … but we keep moving on. Kenny got a PB [and] it was a pretty good performance from him."
Canada's Aaron Brown, who trains with Bednarek, King and Lindsey in Montverde, Fla., was fifth (20.29) at Qatar Sports Club in his first Diamond League race of the season.
Brown, 31, told CBC Sports this week he was looking forward to testing himself against familiar competition.
'Extra motivation is there'
"We had to race each other in the Bahamas," he said, "so now it will be fun to race individually and see how we stack up against each other.
"The extra motivation to do well is there for sure as they've all put up great performances so far and I want to get on the board, too."
WATCH | Bednarek leads U.S. to 4x100m win over Canada at World Relays:
Brown ran 20.00 to open his 2023 campaign in the 200 in Botswana and went on to post a 19.98 season best last September in Brussels.
Last Sunday, Andre De Grasse, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Brown ran 37.89 in the final at World Relays behind Bednarek, King, Lindsey and Lyles (37.40).
The Toronto native has already achieved the 20.16 automatic Olympic entry standard. While he's not among the 19 sprinters to have run the 10-second standard for Paris in the 100, Brown is 31st of the top 56 for Olympic selection, based on world ranking points.
'If I'm able to stay calm, the time will come'
Vancouver runner Kieran Lumb ran a PB in the men's 1,500, with his 3:34.41 clocking coming within one second of the 3:33.50 automatic Olympic entry standard.
The 25-year-old's previous best of 3:34.55 came in his 2023 season finale in Padova, Italy.
"I think sometimes athletes can get too fixated on the time," Lumb told CBC Sports this week. "If I'm able to stay calm and compete well in the race, the time will come, and it will act as a springboard for other races in the season ahead."
Lumb entered Friday 33rd in the top 45 for Olympic selection, with 26 of those athletes having run standard. But this performance could bump the Canadian higher in the standings based on world rankings points.
The Doha race was Lumb's first Diamond League competition in the 1,500 after competing in the 3,000 last year (Stockholm) and in 2021 (Oslo, Norway).
He opened this year's outdoor campaign at the Oregon Relays on April 19 in Eugene, Ore., competing in the 1,500 and distance medley relay.
WATCH | Lumb runs personal best in his 1st Diamond League 1,500m:
Kenya swept the top-three spots in Friday's event, led by Brian Komen's 3:32.33. Timothy Cheruiyot, a 2019 world gold medallist and four-time Diamond League champion, was second (3:32.67). He hasn't won the 1,500 since his last title victory in 2021.
Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot, no relation to Timothy, placed third (3:32.96).
Neita earns 2nd straight sprint victory
In the women's 100, Britain's Daryll Neita edged ahead of American Tamari Davis in the final 15 metres to win by 1-100th of a second in a photo finish for the podium.
Neita won with a time of 10.98 while American Celera Barnes was third (11.02).
Two weeks ago, the 27-year-old Neita clocked 22.62 to beat reigning world bronze medallist Sha'Carri Richardson of the U.S. in Suzhou, China.
Neita had only one previous Diamond League victory in the 200 last July 2 in 22.50 to defeat Dina Asher-Smith of Britain (22.58).
WATCH | Neita charges late to capture women's 100m in Doha:
Other results:
- Alison dos Santos got the crowd going when he broke the meet record in the 400 hurdles as the towering Brazilian left his opponents far behind to clock 46.86 seconds.
- In men's long jump, Greece's reigning Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou finished second behind Jamaica's Carey McLeod who won with a leap of 8.52 metres, thanks to a strong tailwind. Tentoglou, who was competing in his first event this year, could only manage 8.36 on his final attempt.
- India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra was pipped to top spot in the javelin by the Czech Republic's Jakub Vadlejch in a close contest where the pair were separated by just two centimetres. Chopra was looking to beat Vadlejch's best throw of 88.38m but his final effort fell agonizingly short as the two athletes smiled and shook hands.
WATCH | Full event coverage: Doha Diamond League in Qatar:
Diamond League calendar
- Rabat/Marrakech — May 19
- Eugene (Prefontaine Claissic) — May 25
- Oslo, Norway — May 30
- Stockholm — June 2
- Paris — July 7
- Monaco — July 12
- London — July 20
- Lausanne, Switzerland — Aug. 22
- Silesia, Poland — Aug. 25
- Rome — Aug. 30
- Zurich — Sept. 5
- Brussels (DL Final) — Sept. 13-14
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
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With files from Reuters
