US sprinter Bednarek furiously accuses 2024 Olympics chiefs of ‘favoritism’ in lane assignment

American sprinter Kenny Bednarek accused Paris Olympics officials of ‘favouritism’ ahead of the men’s 200m final on Thursday.

Bednarek, who finished ahead of his compatriot, Noah Lyles in the hotly-contested half-lap event, used social media to express his grievances with the lane assignment just ahead of the finals. Bednarek shared that despite winning his semi-final race, he was assigned Lane 9 for the finals.

Lyles, however, who was beaten in his semi-final by Letsile Tebogo, and who ran a slower time than Bednarak, was given Lane 5.

A displeased Bednarek took to social media where he highlighted he has “never seen favouritism like this on a global scale.

According to an article from the UK’s DailyMail, Bednarek later protested and was moved to Lane 8. He ended up finishing second behind Tebogo, who created history for his country of Botswana by copping the gold medal.

The DailyMail report shared that in track events, it is widely believed that the middle lanes (4-6) give athletes technical superiority over their rivals during the race and it is reserved for the top athletes in the heats. In the outside lanes (7-9) and inside lanes (1 and 2), the sprinter fails to see their rivals because of limited visibility, making the middle lane the most preferred as the runners will have an eye on their rivals on both sides, especially at the bend.