EUGENE — A strong final 25 meters earned Fred Kerley the title as world’s fastest man.
Kerley made a closing push to finish in 9.86 seconds, narrowly edging fellow Americans Marvin Bracy-Williams and Trayvon Bromell (9.88 each) in the men’s 100-meter final of the World Athletics Championships Saturday night at Hayward Field.
“It felt amazing,” said Kerley, the silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics and the top-ranked sprinter in the world. “I got the work done this time around and the gold medal means more than anything. It’s amazing to do it on home soil with the home crowd behind us.
“It’s a wonderful blessing to get a clean sweep. I feel we can dominate again at (next year’s) world championships. We all put the work in, come back home and return again next year.”
Bracy-Williams took the early lead and maintained it through the first 50 meters. Kerley, who was in the next lane, closed the gap around the 75-meter mark and edged his teammates in the third ever sweep of the 100 by USA, which did the same in 1983 and 1991.
It’s the first career outdoor championship medal for Bracy-Williams, who returned to track in 2020 after a brief professional football career in the NFL in 2017-18 and breaking his arm while in the Alliance of American Football in February 2019.
“I was just trying to go out and execute the best race I could run and I feel like I did that and (Kerley) just ran a better race,” Bracy-Williams said. “It’s a lost gold medal, but at the end of the day you can’t take these things for granted. You don’t know the next team you’re going to make. This sport is ever evolving. To get it like this, in a grand fashion on home soil means everything.”
Bromell, the No. 4 sprinter in the world, was furthest to the outside in lane eight. He credited American Christian Coleman, who finished sixth in 10.01 seconds, with helping him finish in the second-fastest third-place mark at the world championships.
“It was a great race,” Bromell said. “Obviously being out a lane it was hard to see where everybody was. Blessing to have a great starter, somebody like Coleman next to me to definitely push and give me that edge that I didn’t think I was going to have because of being so far out there. I’ve never really been in that position before. To be able to overcome that and be able to stay poised and stay consistent through my last 50 meters and move up to the front, I was happy with it.”
Bracy-Williams tackled Bromell in celebration afterward as the training partners and teammates each overcame injuries to medal. Bromell endured two Achilles surgeries and nearly retired in 2018.
It was redemption on a world stage for Bromell, who failed to qualify for the final in Tokyo a year ago.
“I feel like we earned that respect from what we did tonight,” Bromell said. “A lot of people didn’t expect us to do this. Obviously from what happened to me in Tokyo. Marvin hasn’t been in the sport. … This medal means so much because of all I’ve been through.
“I didn’t think I was going to be back in the sport. A lot of people know that in 2018 I was going to retire. I already had a letter written up to my agent that I didn’t want to do the sport no more because it was so hard to get back. To be able to come out here and get a medal after all that, it’s motivation.”
Coleman gave the United States four qualifiers in the final, matching its feat from 2015 and only also matched by Jamaica in 2013.
“I was proud of myself for making it this far and battling and getting to that line in the final,” Coleman said. “It just wasn’t my day today. I feel like I prepared well. I think it’s one of those things if I get more and more races under my belt, I’ll continue to get better.”
Jamaica’s Oblique Seville (9.97), who led the three semifinal heats in 9.90 seconds, and South Africa’s Akani Simbine (10.01) rounded out the top five.
Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, who advanced on Friday despite arriving in Eugene less than three hours before the heats began, finished the semifinal in 10.14 and didn’t advance. Nor did two-time Olympic bronze medalist Andre de Grasse (10.21) of Canada.
Reigning Olympic gold medalist Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy withdrew during the semifinal round due to injury.
