Until now, all we really knew about the Paris Olympics were the race results—who won, who lost, and a few tidbits from interviews. But Netflix’s Sprint Season 2 has changed that, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the raw emotions and candid confessions of athletes. One major revelation it made? The real reason behind Kenny Bednarek’s loss in the 100m race.

Watching the docu-series reveals so much more than just the pre- and post-race moments, showing that Olympic stories go beyond what happens on the track. One such instance is Kenny Bednarek’s confession about what went wrong on race day. He revealed, “In the 100 meters, I didn’t live up to my expectation. I knew that I should’ve been there.”

The final’s lineup was stacked with 8 of the world’s best sprinters, and each of them was equally poised to win. However, the tight photo finish declared Kenny Bednarek a distant seventh ranker, which crushed his hopes. And when he looked back at it in retrospect, he realized, as he mentions in the series, “The 100 meters was just devastating. It was just a mental screwup on my part. Sometime you crash and burn, and that’s what pretty much happened.” 

Thus, Kenny Bednarek’s loss on the big stage came down to one thing—a mental mishap. In fact, there was no other reason he could have fallen short. We all knew he was coming off a strong 100m silver finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene and he had the momentum. Also, honestly his 9.88s timing in the Paris finals wasn’t that bad—just a fraction of a second behind his contemporaries.

But here’s the thing. In such crucial events, it comes down to near perfection and that’s what lacked. However, its also notable that the 100m isn’t really Kenny’s main event. He’s usually more focused on the 200m, which is where he truly shines. Thus, after the race, he quickly shifted gears, saying he wanted to learn from his mistakes and get better.

Kenny Bednarek is tired of being the ‘silver’ winner

Losses are never easy to deal with, but this one hit hard. Especially as Kenny Bednarek had hoped that winning gold would bring him closer to finding his biological parents and siblings. Naturally, he found himself weeping to his coach when neither happened. Crestfallen after his 7th finish, Kenny Bednarek could hardly hold his emotions back when he saw his coach after the race. Holding his head down and sobbing, Bednarek voiced, “I’m tired of losing,” to Dennis Mitchell, showing just how dejected he was.

But the coach knew the 200m race awaited and he cannot already give up. Thus, Mitchell warned Bednarek, “You do not want your competitors to see  you with you head down, win lose or draw.” Bednarek’s coach also assured him that this was just a minor hitch, not he end of the road. He said, “Dude, you was in that bad boy. You were in it, okay? We’re gonna be back.” Turns out, Mitchell was right all the way. Bednarek’s descent began in his head first and that’s why coach Micthell knew, reassurance was key.

And look how it turned the game around in the 220m. Although, Kenny Bednarek still wasn’t the Olympic champion, he was atleast not going home empty-handed. And who knows, had it not been his mental block, he would have medaled in the 100m too. Do you think this was possible? Let us know below!