Budapest, Aug 20: There will be a new world champion in the men’s 100 meters after American Fred Kerley failed to advance out of the semifinal Sunday.
Kerley, who came in as the favorite, finished third in the final heat with a time of 10.02. The top two finishers in each of the three heats automatically advanced to the final, along with the two fastest finishers who weren’t among those top finishers, but Kerley missed the final wildcard spot by .01.
Noah Lyles, who has said he thinks he can run 9.65, won his heat easily in 9.87 — the fastest time of the three semifinals. Another American, 2019 world champ Christian Coleman, won the second semifinal in 9.88.
Kerley started an entertaining verbal tussle with Lyles earlier in the week when he said the 100 was his to win and that if Lyles ran 9.65, he’d run faster. Lyles shot back: “That’s what they all say ’til they get beat.”
Now, that showdown is off. Instead, the top contenders will include Lyles, Coleman, Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, who ran 9.90, and Zharnel Hughes, who broke British champion Linford Christie’s 30-year-old national record in June. Hughes’ new record, 9.83, is the fastest time in the world this year. Earlier in the day, the opening round of the women’s 100 went to form.
Sha’Carri Richardson, Marie-Josée Ta Lou, Shericka Jackson and defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce all won their 100-meter heats to stay on course for a showdown in what had, until Kerley bowed out, looked like possibly the most unpredictable race of the nine-day track meet.
Richardson, the American national champion, crossed the finish line in the day’s fastest time, 10.92 seconds. She pretended to flick some sweat off her brow — no big deal, not that anyone expected that in the first round.
Fraser-Pryce, the Jamaican who is seeking to tie a record by winning her sixth individual world championship in the same event, was slowing down as she crossed the line in 11.01.
All in all, it was a low-drama start to what might be the most hotly contested race of the meet, and a possible preview of more to come at the Paris Olympics next summer. Maria Perez opened the day by giving Spain a sweep of the 20-kilometer race walk — her victory in 1 hour, 26 minutes, 51 seconds coming a day after Álvaro Martin won the men’s race.
Other titles being decided Sunday were in women’s long jump, the men’s 10,000 meters, the heptathlon and men’s hammer throw. In that event, Poland’s Pawel Fajdek is also going for a record-tying sixth world title. Fajdek has won the last five worlds but hasn’t finished higher than third in his three Olympics trips. (AP)
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