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3 for 3

Americans sweep top 3 places at the World championships for 3rd time

Fred Jeter | 7/21/2022, 6 p.m.
Men wearing the red, white and blue have harvested gold, silver and bronze at the World Athletics Championships.
Fred Kerley, center, Marvin Bracy-Williams, right, and Trayvon Bromell, finish first, second and third place respectively July 16 in the U.S. World Athletic Championships, in Eugene, Ore.

Men wearing the red, white and blue have harvested gold, silver and bronze at the World Athletics Championships.

Americans Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy-Williams and Trayvon Bromell finished first, second and third in a breath-taking 100-meter final July 16 in Eugene, Ore.

Kerley was timed in 9.86 while runner-up Bracy-Williams and third- place Bromell both stopped the clock in 9.88. Bracy-Williams led after 95 meters before Kerley’s power prevailed at the finish.

“I didn’t know (I’d won) until I looked at the scoreboard,” said Kerley, “It said Fred Kerley, No. 1.”

Usually a man of few words, Kerley added: “This means the world to me.”

It is the third time in history that Americans have swept the top three places at the World Championships.

Previously, Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitched turned the trick in 1991 in Tokyo, and in 1983 Lewis, Calvin Smith and Emmit King went 1-2-3 in Helsinki.

Kerley, a 27-year-old Texan, converted from the 400 to the 100 and 200 two years ago. He was the 100 Olympic silver medalist at Tokyo last year behind Italian Marcell Jacobs.

Jacobs was scratched from the 100 final in Eugene due to leg injuries.

Kerley, coached by Grenadian Al- leyne Francique, is now one of only three men to ever post times of under 44 seconds for 400, under 20 seconds for 200 and under 10 seconds for 100.

The others were South African Wayde Van Niekert and American Michael Norman.

Kerley’s first cousin, Jeremy Kerley, is a former NFL receiver and kick returner, with 13 career touchdowns.

At 6-foot-3, Kerley towered over fellow Americans Bracy-Williams and Bromell, who are both about 5-foot-9.

Bracy-Williams, 28 and from Orlando, Fla., may be better known as a former NFL receiver with Indianapolis and Seattle and college star at Florida State.

The 27-year-old Bromell, from St. Petersburg, Fla., has been a world-class sprinter since high school. He was the first to ever break 10 seconds (9.97) in the U-19 Junior division.

The only meet bigger than the World is the Olympics. American sprinters figure to be among the top contenders at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. The 100-meter world record of 9.58 was set by Jamaican Usain Bolt in 1986 in Berlin.

Tyson Gay set the U.S. record for 100 meters with a 9.69 clocking in China in 2009.