‘Future is bright for me,’ says US Olympian Fred Kerley

USA’s Fred Kerley (centre) crosses the finish line in the 100m final during the World Athletics Championships at Eugene on Saturday. Pic/AFP

American Fred Kerley led a US cleansweep as he stormed to victory in the men's 100m at the World Championships in Oregon on Saturday. Kerley, in Lane 4, trailed Marvin Bracy for 95 metres of the tight race, but managed to outdip his teammate for victory in 9.86 seconds at Eugene's Hayward Field. Bracy took silver in 9.88sec, Trayvon Bromell claiming bronze in the same time for a third-ever 100m world championship clean sweep for the United States after 1983 and 1991.

The fourth of the strong US quartet, Christian Coleman, the reigning world champion from Doha in 2019 who was banned from the Tokyo Olympics for missing three doping tests, finished sixth (10.01) despite an electric start. "We said we were going to do it and we did! USA, baby!" Olympic silver medallist Kerley said to roars of approval and applause from a partisan home crowd.

Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell

"I didn't know until I looked up and saw the clock with my name Fred Kerley on it," added Kerley, whose path to gold was made easier by the withdrawal of Italy's Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs earlier on Saturday. "It means a lot and I've done something not many 400m runners have done," Kerley said, adding: "I know today opened up many doors for me. The future is bright for me."

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The last US cleansweep featured Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitchell, something not lost on the modest Kerley or silver medallist Bracy. "It's amazing to be among the great, they did it in 1991, we did in 2022," Bracy said. "This is history, to be part of something that has only happened three times ever just means the world to me."

Fraser-Pryce leads Jamaica into semis

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's bid for a fifth world 100m title remained on track after she sailed through her heat on Friday. She heads up an incredibly strong Jamaica team seeking to repeat the medal cleansweep they managed at last year's Tokyo Olympics. In the Japanese capital, it finished with Elaine Thompson-Herah taking gold, Fraser-Pryce silver and Shericka Jackson bronze.

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