Who Is ‘Kung Fu’ Kenny Bednarek’s Girlfriend Sharmila Nicollet?
Sprinter Kenny Bednarek, nicknamed “Kung Fu Kenny,” won a silver in the men’s 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He came into the 2024 Paris Games looking to earn another medal after he clocked a personal best of 19.59 seconds.
Bednarek won his semifinal heat on Aug. 7 with a time of 20.00 seconds to qualify for the final. The following day, he finished in second place taking home another silver in the 200 meters. Since he’s been on the global stage with so many eyes on him, fans want to know more about his life off the track including who his girlfriend is.
Here’s more on Sharmila Nicollet and why some sports fans may recognize her.
How long Bednarek and Nicollet have been together
While the details of exactly how Bednarek and Nicollet met aren’t known, the couple went public with the relationship in 2020, posting a snap together on Instagram. And while they haven’t been spotted out at many public events with each other, they have appeared together in plenty of photos on social media.
In June 2024, the pair celebrated their fourth anniversary and Nicollet shared several pics of them over the years.
“Happy 4 year Anniversary baby. Too many amazing memories, adventures around the world and hairstyles to choose from 06-01-2020………to be continued,” she captioned the carousel of images.
Nicollet is an athlete as well
Like her beau, Nicollet is an athlete as well.
Nicollet was born on March 12, 1991, in Bangalore, India, to a French father and an Indian mother. Her mom, Surekha, owns Padmini Aroma Ltd, a perfume company in Bangalore while her dad, Marc, is a software professional.
Nicollet attended Bishop Cotton Girls’ School and Bangalore International School. She excelled in sports like swimming and golf. In swimming, she won state and national aquatic competitions between 1997 and 2001 and earned more than 70 medals at the sub-junior level. She began playing golf in 2002 when she was just 11 years old and won her first event at 15.
How Nicollet made history
While Bednarek made his mark on the Olympics by adding more medals to his collection, Nicollet made history in her sport as well.
She is the youngest lady golfer to win the All-India Ladies Amateur Championship in 2007-2008, along with seven Open Amateur Tournaments. When Nicollet turned pro in 2009, she became the youngest Indian golfer, at 18, to ever qualify for and compete in the Ladies European Tour.
During an interview with Sportkeeda after turning pro, Nicollet was asked how much things have changed for Indian female golfers over the years.
She responded: “So from when I first turned pro how far they have come right now … players [are] getting better in scoring, getting better under par scores, [and] winning scores … [seeing] girls like Aditi Ashok and the rest playing overseas, it’s nice and it changes the perception of Indian golf when girls are performing abroad. So it’s doing great.”
She added that an event like the Indian Open is one where the ladies can really “showcase their talents” and “run shoulders with the best players.”
Some other facts about Nicollet are that her favorite drink is coffee and her favorite golfer is Tiger Woods.
