In the showboating, smack-talking world of professional sprinting, Fred Kerley has always been something of an outlier. He does not pound his chest as he steps into the blocks. His news conferences rarely make news. He often ends social media posts with the hashtag "#SayNoMore."
He certainly didn't need to say much Saturday night.
A little less than a year after winning silver at the Tokyo Olympics, Kerley squeaked across the line in the men's 100-meter final at Hayward Field to win his first world championship — and lead the first American sweep in the event since 1991.
Kerley, 27, finished in 9.86 seconds, two-hundredths off what he ran in the finals in Tokyo last summer. Marvin Bracy took silver in 9.88, beating compatriot Trayvon Bromell by mere milliseconds.
"It's amazing to do it on home soil with the home crowd behind us," Kerley told reporters after the race. "It's a wonderful blessing to get a clean sweep. We all put the work in."
Defending world champion Christian Coleman, who was the fourth American in the eight-man final, came in sixth.
It's the third time the U.S. has swept the event at the world championships, but none of Saturday's winners were alive the last time it happened. According to U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee historian Bill Mallon, the U.S. has now won more world championship medals in the men's 100 (28) than every other nation combined.
For this group of American sprinters, it will be viewed as a redemptive showing after the U.S. men collectively underperformed at the Tokyo Games. It also cements Kerley as the dominant force in one of track and field's most popular events .
It's not just that he won Saturday's final, but also his consistently superb results in the leadup to it — from times of 9.76 and 9.77 at outdoor nationals last month, to the 9.79 he ran in his heat Friday night. Only two American men have ever run faster.
Kerley's rise over the past year has been both dramatic and surprising. Previously an accomplished 400-meter runner, he abruptly switched to the 100 and 200 last summer ahead of the U.S. Olympic trials, at least in part due to an ankle injury. There were questions about whether he would even make the Olympic team.
Instead, the Texas native wound up being the highest-placing American in the event, finishing second to Marcell Jacobs of Italy. (Jacobs withdrew from the semifinals at worlds Saturday with an injury.)
When asked in a pre-event news conference this week if he relished the opportunity to prove critics wrong, Kerley was predictably succinct.
"I believe in myself, first and foremost," he said. "I put the work in to be great. I don't come to run to be second-best."
NBC analyst Ato Boldon said Kerley does not have the bombastic personality or showmanship of some of the sport's recent stars, like Usain Bolt. But that does not make Kerley any less of a star on the track.
"That's just who he is," Boldon said. "And those of us who know and love Fred, we love him because of that, not in spite of that."
Ealey wins women's shot put
It was a historic night for Chase Ealey.
The 27-year-old became the first American woman to win a world title in the shot put and secured the victory with her first throw of the night, which traveled 67 feet, 2¾ inches. She finished just ahead of reigning Olympic gold medalist Gong Lijiao of China to win the world title.
Ealey, who starred in college at Oklahoma State, narrowly missed out on making it to Tokyo a year ago, finishing fifth at the U.S. Olympic trials. With her winning throw Saturday, she now owns three of the four best marks in U.S. history.
Two suspended for doping violations
American 400-meter runner Randolph Ross and Kenyan marathoner Lawrence Cherono have been booted from the world championships for alleged violations of anti-doping rules.
Ross, who finished third at the outdoor nationals last month, was provisionally suspended for "tampering with the doping control process," according to the Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping control for the major international events.
Cherono tested positive for trimetazidine — the same banned substance that triggered a positive test for Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva before the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Both Ross and Cherono had been due to compete Sunday.
COVID-19 cluster identified
Organizers announced that a cluster of seven COVID-19 cases has been identified within the Japanese delegation, including two marathoners, four support staffers and a coach. The affected individuals are now isolating, and all athletes were required to be fully vaccinated prior to arriving at the event, organizers said.
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
