NO WORLD CHAMPS 100 since Paris ’03 has seen a tighter margin among the medalists: just 0.02 separated gold from bronze. It was the first century final since Tokyo ’91 — 31 years ago — to see a U.S. medal sweep. And for approximately the last 9m it was all Fred Kerley’s; decisively, Kerley kept it so at the only spot that counts, the finishline.
Kerley leaned across it in 9.86, inches ahead of the two men, in the same order, who had followed him across the same stripe on the Hayward straight 3 weeks earlier at the USATF Champs.
As both were timed in 9.88, all of two-thousandths separated Marvin Bracy-Williams in silver position (9.874) from Trayvon Bromell with the bronze (9.876) — whisper-of-an-eyelash close.
Oblique Seville of Jamaica dashed across in 4th (9.97) from Akani Simbine, whose margin with a 10.01 clocking from defending champion Christian Coleman in 6th also totaled a sliver-ish 0.002.
All-time great Carl Lewis led the two previous medal sweeps at Worlds Nos. 1 (Helsinki ’83) and 3 (Tokyo). The sweepers that last time were King Carl with a then-WR 9.86, Leroy Burrell & Dennis Mitchell.
Here the final two places in the final went to Florida alum Hakim Sani Brown of Japan — a training mate of Bracy-Williams & Bromell — and Canada’s Aaron Brown, at 10.06 and 10.07.
The formchart this time had annointed Tokyo silver medalist Kerley favorite, as did the ’22 year list, atop which the Texas A&M alum’s nationals times of 9.76 in his semi and 9.77 in the final were the two fastest marks. Nonetheless, three rounds throw up three chances for any sprinter to falter.
Among the Tokyo finalists, only Kerley and Simbine (4th at the Games) reached the ultimate round here.
Surprise Olympic champ Lamont Marcell Jacobs churned a 10.04 heat, placing 2nd to Seville’s 9.93, and then did not start in his semi, citing a thigh injury.
Tokyo 200 gold medalist Andre De Grasse — rushing to play catch-up after a recent bout with COVID — managed a 10.12 in heat VI, won by Coleman (10.08). Drawn for the next round in über-tough semi II with Kerley, Coleman, Olympic finalist Zharnel Hughes and ’11 world champ Yohan Blake, the Canadian sprinted a non-advancing 5th (10.21).
While times in that semi were oddly slow — Kerley 1st in 10.02 — Kerley had lit up his heat the day before in 9.79, acres ahead of Hughes. Bromell dropped a 9.89 to win his heat.
Botswana’s World Junior champion Letsile Tebogo, who turned 19 in June, marked himself as a star of the future, taking his heat in a WJR 9.94, snipping 0.02 off his own mark.
To the final at the end of evening 2 came Kerley and Bracy-Williams each with no losses in the rounds, and Bromell whose 9.97 semi was a same-time 2nd to Simbine. Just one of them would win.
The lane draw found the top names spread across the track; lane assignments, 1–8: Sani Brown, Brown, Bracy-Williams, Kerley, Simbine, Seville, Coleman, Bromell.
The indoor 60 WR holder, Coleman absolutely blasted from his blocks out in 7, his 0.104 reaction time just outside the false-start margin.
The defending champ’s transition was fair but by 25m
28-year-old Rio semifinalist Bracy-Williams —who spent 2017 & ’18 chasing NFL dreams — was flying in the lead. Ahead of Kerley and the rest but never free and clear.
From 70m on, Kerley inched up on Bracy-Williams’ right. Passing the mile start stripe, he drew even and then threw back his arms to lean. Bracy-Williams dipped. And now let’s let Kerley tell it:
“I lost the Olympics by 0.04 seconds. I saw Bracy in front of me, he dipped early. And I dipped at the right time and got the job done on today.”
The medal sweep of the meet’s first individual track final made for a heartening follow on the individual track medals shutout in Tokyo for U.S. men.
“It feels amazing to get a clean sweep,” Kerley declared. “The greats did it in 1991 and the greats of 2022 did it today.”
MEN’S 100 RESULTS
FINAL (July 16; wind –0.1)
(temperature 73F/23C; humidity 66%)
1. Fred Kerley (US) 9.86;
2. Marvin Bracy-Williams (US) 9.88;
3. Trayvon Bromell (US) 9.88;
4. Oblique Seville (Jam) 9.97;
5. Akani Simbine (SA) 10.01;
6. Christian Coleman (US) 10.01;
7. Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (Jpn) 10.06;
8. Aaron Brown (Can) 10.07.
(lanes: 1. Sani Brown; 2. Brown; 3. Bracy-Williams; 4. Kerley; 5. Simbine; 6. Seville; 7. Coleman; 8. Bromell)
(reaction times: 0.104 Coleman, 0.110 Bromell, 0.118 Bracy-Williams, 0.119 Kerley, 0.129 Simbine, 0.147 Sani Brown, 0.154 Seville, 0.155 Brown)
QUALIFYING ROUND (July 15)
I(0.5)–1. Cesar Almiron (Par) 10.49; 2. Ildar Akhmadiyev (Tjk) 10.66; 3. Noureddine Hadid (Leb) 10.68; 4. Shaun Gill (Blz) 10.76; 5. Hassan Saaid (MDV) 10.77; 6. James Fiti Scott (Mic) 11.61; 7. Mipham Yoezer Gurung (Bhu) 11.86 PR.
II(-0.1)–1. Ebrahima Camara (Gam) 10.37; 2. Lalu Muhammad Zohri (Ina) 10.46; 3. Imran Rahman (Ban) 10.47; 4. Karalo Hepoiteloto Maibuca (Tuv) 11.46; 5. Ignacio Blaluk (Pau) 11.66 PR; 6. Nehumi Tuihalamaka (TGA) 12.22 PR.
III(0.0)–1. Lionnel Muteba (Con) 10.64; 2. Hussein Ali Al-Khafaji (Irq) 10.65; 3. Francesco Sansovini (SMa) 10.67; 4. Craig Gill (Gib) 11.24; 5. Lataisi Mwea (Kyr) 11.43; 6. Nathan Crumpton (AmS) 11.71.
IV(1.1)–1. Emanuel Archibald (Guy) 10.31; 2. Dorian Rostan Keletela (Con) 10.48; 3. Melique Garcia (Hon) 10.70; 4. Omar Aburouss (Jor) 11.24; 5. Said Gilani (Afg) 11.43; 6. Tikove Piira (COK) 11.56 PR;… dq—Ratu Banuve Tabakaucoro (Fij).
HEATS (July 15)
I(-0.1)–1. Bracy 10.05; 2. Ackeem Blake (Jam) 10.15; 3. Raymond Ekevwo (Ngr) 10.17; 4. Cejhae Greene (Ant) 10.17; 5. Rohan Browning (Aus) 10.22; 6. Chituru Ali (Ita) 10.40; 7. Zohri 10.42; 8. Sansovini 10.71.
II(0.1)–1. Kerley 9.79 <9.80 with zero wind/altitude>; 2. Zharnel Hughes (GB) 9.97; 3. Emmanuel Matadi (Lbr) 9.99; 4. Favour Ashe (Ngr) 10.00; 5. Bingtian Su (Chn) 10.15; 6. Jerod Elcock (Tri) 10.22; 7. Archibald 10.24; 8. Saaid 10.83.
III(0.6)–1. Bromell 9.89; 2. Arthur Gue Cissé (CI) 10.02; 3. Rodrigo do Nascimento (Bra) 10.11; 4. Jerome Blake (Can) 10.16; 5. Yupun Abeykoon (SrL) 10.19; 6. Camara 10.48; 7. Femi Ogunode (Qat) 10.52; 8. Gill 10.77.
IV(0.2)–1. Seville 9.93; 2. Lamont Marcell Jacobs (Ita) 10.04; 3. Ryuichiro Sakai (Jpn) 10.12; 4. Reece Prescod (GB) 10.15; 5. Julian Wagner (Ger) 10.21; 6. Shainer Reginfo (Cub) 10.21; 7. Keletela 10.52.
V(1.1)–1. Letsile Tebogo (Bot) 9.94 WJR (old WJR 9.96 Tebogo ’22);
2. Yohan Blake (Jam) 10.04; 3. Brown 10.06; 4. Simbine 10.07; 5. Samson Colebrooke (Bah) 10.23; 6. Jake Doran (Aus) 10.29; 7. Almiron 10.51; 8. Garcia 10.88.
VI(0.5)–1. Coleman 10.08; 2. Andre De Grasse (Can) 10.12; 3. Erik Felipe Cardoso (Bra) 10.18; 4. Benjamin Azamati (Gha) 10.18; 5. Gift Leotlela (SA) 10.19; 6. Udodi Onwuzurike (Ngr) 10.26; 7. Al-Khafaji 10.55; 8. Akhmadiyev 10.85.
VII(-0.3)–1. Sani Brown 9.98; 2. Edward Osei-Nketia (NZ) 10.08 NR; 3. Ferdinand Omanyala (Ken) 10.10; 4. Ismael Kone (CI) 10.17; 5. Felipe Bardi (Bra) 10.22; 6. Joseph Amoah (Gha) 10.22; 7. Clarence Munyai (SA) 10.47; 8. Muteba 10.60; 9. Hadid 10.72.
SEMIS (July 16)
I(0.3)–1. Simbine 9.97; 2. Bromell 9.97; 3. Sani Brown 10.05; 4. Y. Blake 10.12; 5. Matadi 10.12; 6. Cissé 10.16; 7. do Nascimento 10.19; 8. Ekevwo 10.20.
II(0.1)–1. Kerley 10.02; 2. Coleman 10.05; 3. Hughes 10.13; 4. A. Blake 10.19; 5. De Grasse 10.21; 6. Sakai 10.23; 7. Osei-Nketia 10.29; 8. Su 10.30.
III(-0.1)–1. Seville 9.90; 2. Bracy-Williams 9.93; 3. Brown 10.06; 4. Ashe 10.12; 5. Omanyala 10.14; 6. Cardoso 10.15; 7. Tebogo 10.17;… dnc—Jacobs.
