In the 2024 season, Kenny Bednarek emerged as one of the potential contenders for the title of fastest man. Not only has he performed well at the Olympics, but he has also earned a lot of public approval by remaining authentic throughout. Although his current expertise is limited to short-distance running, he may have hinted at other attempts recently.

In an Instagram story teaser for an upcoming podcast with Dominic Schlueter, Bednarek discussed, among other things, the possibility of trying long-distance running.

The presenter asked him if he had ever thought about running a mile and, if so, how fast he could do it. Although the sprinter initially claimed he had never attempted long-distance running, he recalled an anecdote about it.

It turns out that during one of his training sessions, Bednarek’s teammates challenged him to a mile run in five minutes. He said he hadn’t even stretched and had just woken up to go straight to the track.

However, his adrenaline levels were high and he agreed to attempt the mile run with as much speed and endurance as he could muster.

“This is me just waking up, not stretching or anything. And I was like, ‘I guess I’m in. Let me do it.'”

Despite the lack of warm-up exercises and the necessary preparation for the mile sprint, Bednarek remembered that the challenge gave him sufficient strength.

In general, elite sprinters like him can build up enough speed and power to run a mile in five minutes, while other average sprinters may need up to eight minutes.

However, this would require a lot of practice and strategy to distribute the amount of energy over increasing distances.

For Bednarek, this was his very first attempt at running a mile as a rookie, and he did so without any preparation or proper warm-up. However, he managed to clock a time of around 5:55, which was quite an accomplishment for his first attempt.

“I thought to myself, ‘You know, this is earlier in the year… so if I do this, I’ll actually take it with me.'”

Now that he knew he could take risks and gamble in long-distance running, Bednarek revealed how he’s improved his timing since then. He now runs 5:30 and still has the potential to go even shorter and run a sub-five-minute mile if he prepares well.

The sprint season is not over yet and there are several competitions and meets coming up, including the Diamond League. Bednarek still has a chance to prove his skills by battling through these championships and setting a good record.