The “USA, USA!” escape from the stands of Hayward Field. The sun begins to set, casting a lovely light over the Oregon hills. Wrapped in the star-spangled banner, Fred Kerley never ceases to clap the hands of the spectators, so close to the track in this Eugene stadium which has given so much to American athletics.
Tears are flowing, the US sprinter, new 100m world champion (9′’86), wipes them away with his red jersey. The ovation is the same for Marvin Bracy, silver medalist in 9’88 and Trayvin Bromell, tanned in 9’88. As in 1983 and 1991 – when Carl Lewis reigned over the sprint – the United States offered a hat-trick in the queen distance. A performance quickly hailed on social networks by Usain Bolt, the one who remains to this day the fastest man on the planet (9′’58).
“We said it, we did it, USA baby! “Screams Fred Kerley to celebrate the hat-trick that Team USA was hoping for for the first World Championships on American soil. A performance that the Americans had therefore not achieved in the 100m since… 1991 in Tokyo (Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell), supplemented by the 6th place of Chris Coleman, the defending champion (10′’01). A few minutes earlier, when the sprinters presented themselves on the start line, US Army F 15s split the sky. Like a sign of fate. At 27, the American from Texas, silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, is finally making history.
Kerley had already made an impression by being one of the three sprinters in the world to have broken the mythical barriers over the three sprint distances: less than 10 seconds over 100 m (9′’76), less than 20 seconds over 200 m (19′’76) and less than 44 seconds over 400m (43′’64). It was also on the lap that he began to shine, winning the bronze medal at the Doha Worlds in 2019. Fred Kerley, on the other hand, was unable to take his revenge on the Italian Marcell Jacobs, who beat him to the Tokyo Games last summer. The Italian Olympic champion gave up on Saturday for the semi-finals, injured in a thigh after a complicated start to the season.
“Extraordinary to mingle with legends”
“It’s extraordinary to mingle with legends. They (Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitchell, editor’s note) did it in 1991, we did it in 2022. And it’s extraordinary to do it on American soil, with the public behind us, rejoiced the new hero. We did the work today (Saturday). I didn’t know I had won until I looked up and saw the timer with my name on it. It means a lot to me. I did something few 400m runners have done. I did 100m, 200m and long jump in high school. I return to my love of youth. »
Raised by his aunt with 25 other children in Texas
Kerley then paid tribute to his aunt Virginia who raised him: “I think of her every day, because without her I wouldn’t be talking to you now. She sacrificed her life for me, my brothers, my sisters and my cousins. We were all adopted by our aunt, we were 13. We had a room, we all 13 slept in it. And there were 26 children at home. It’s amazing to achieve something that not many people in my position have achieved. I thank her for giving me the means to succeed in my life. She’s probably blowing up my phone while we’re talking. They are all in San Antonio at home. Today I talk to my parents every day, about the past and the present. I am an adult and now I can have a relationship with them. They weren’t there tonight (Saturday) but I can guarantee you they looked. »
And the world champion obviously does not want to stop there. “I know it opens a lot of doors for me. The future looks bright for me. I always train in the 400m to achieve great things. What drives me, coming from where I come from, is to keep doing great things because you don’t want to end up in the same predicament you were in when you were younger. »