"Favorite person in the world" - Kenny Bednarek sends birthday wishes to girlfriend Sharmila Nicollet

Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek recently wished his girlfriend Sharmila Nicollet on her birthday.

Bednarek and Nicollet met each other during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and have been in a relationship since then. The couple often post pictures of each other on their social media accounts, flaunting their relationship.

As Nicollet celebrated her 33rd birthday on March 12, 2024, it was certain that Bednarek would share a heartfelt post dedicated to his girlfriend.

The American sprinter did so by sharing a photo of the couple on Instagram, where he can be seen wearing a black vest, while Nicollet was donning a stylish black bikini. Both are also wearing sunglasses in the picture.

The 2022 World Championships silver medalist in the 200m, Bednarek captioned the post as:

“Happy birthday to my favorite person in the world. 🎉🍾”

Like Bednarek, Sharmila Nicollet too is a sportsperson. Hailing from Bengaluru, she is an Indian professional golfer who took up the sport at the age of 11 in 2002 and went on to win her first tournament at 15.

Nicollet won the All-India Ladies Amateur Championship in 2007-2008, becoming the then-youngest golfer to win the tournament. Besides this, she competed for India at the Asian Games 2006, the Asia Pacific Junior Golf Tournament, and the Queen Sirikit Cup in Japan.

Having turned professional in 2009 at the age of 18, Nicollet has clinched 11 victories in her career so far. Additionally, she is the youngest from India to qualify for the Ladies European Tour (LET), and second from the nation to secure a full card on the Tour.

Some of her career’s prominent victories include winning the Hero-KGA in 2012 and the Hero-WPGT in 2015.

Kenny Bednarek is the youngest athlete to run sub-20 and sub-45 on the same day

Silver medalist Kenneth Bednarek of Team United States celebrates after competing in the Men's 200m Final on day seven of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 21, 2022 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

At the NJCAA National Championships 2019, Kenny Bednarek ran a 19.82s (-0.8 headwind) in the 200m, and 44.73s in the 400m on the same day to become the NJCAA national champion in both disciplines.

With this, Bednarek became the youngest, the first American, and the second sprinter to achieve this rare feat of clocking both sub-20 and sub-45 on the same day. It was first achieved by Botswana’s Isaac Makwala in Madrid on July 6, 2014, when he was 28 years old.