Bednarek runs this year’s world-best 200m to win at Miami Grand Slam

MIAMI: American Kenny Bednarek set the fastest time in the world this year by winning the 200 meters in 19.84 seconds at Sunday´s Grand Slam Track series Miami meet.

The 26-year-old from Tulsa, the 200m runner-up at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, defeated Britain´s Zharnel Hughes by 0.29 of a second with Jamaica´s Oblique Seville third, also in 20.13.

Bednarek, also a 200m runner-up at the 2022 world championships on home soil in Eugene, captured the Miami men´s 100 title on Saturday in a wind-aided 9.79 seconds. American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400m in 49.69 seconds, beating fellow American Anna Hall by 1.99 seconds.

Two-time reigning Olympic 400m hurdles champion McLaughlin-Levrone won her specialty on Saturday with the fastest time in the world this year of 52.07 seconds. McLaughlin-Levrone broke her own world record last August in capturing the title in Paris with a run of 50.37.