Fred Kerley’s chance at a world championship sprint double ended Tuesday, as the recently crowned 100-meter champ failed to make it to the 200-meter final.
Television cameras showed Kerley wincing as he came off the turn at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, falling well behind the leaders in his semifinal heat. He finished sixth out of the seven runners, with a time of 20.68 seconds.
“I had a cramp but that is a part of the game,” Kerley told reporters afterwards. “Just a cramp so all good.”
Kerley indicated that he will still be available to participate in the 4×100-meter relay, where the U.S. will be heavily favored after sweeping the podium in the individual event over the weekend.
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The three other Americans in the 200 field – Kenny Bednarek, Erriyon Knighton and Noah Lyles – advanced comfortably to the final, with Lyles turning in one of his fastest times ever in 19.62.
Lyles, who turned 25 on Monday, is the reigning world champion in the event but has found a new rival in Knighton, the teenager who has broken several of Usain Bolt’s youth records. The 18-year-old finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, just behind Lyles, and has already run a time of 19.49 this year – the fastest time by any American man besides the legendary Michael Johnson.
Their rivalry reached dramatic new heights last month at the U.S. outdoor nationals, when Lyles, ever the showman, squeaked past Knighton and pointed at the clock as he crossed the finish line.
The world championship 200 final is Thursday at 10:50 p.m. ET.
“I do not feel pressure, not at all,” Knighton told reporters Tuesday. “I am going to do what I have got to do.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s 200, U.S. youngsters Tamara Clark and Abby Steiner each advanced to the final, where Jamaicans Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson will be heavy favorites.
Another thriller in 400 hurdles
Rai Benjamin finally got the better of Norwegian rival Karsten Warholm in the men’s 400-meter hurdles on Tuesday.
But Alison dos Santos got the better of both of them.
In a rematch of arguably the most memorable race of the Tokyo Games, it was dos Santos – the Olympic bronze medalist – who finished first in a blazing 46.29 seconds. Benjamin crossed the line close behind for silver, while countryman Trevor Bassitt surged at the end to take bronze by two hundredths of a second.
Warholm, the Olympic champ, faded down the stretch and finished a surprising seventh. He has been dealing with a hamstring injury for much of the year.
“I had an injury but to me it’s always your fight and giving your all and leaving it all on the track,” he told reporters after the race. “I felt I did that.”
Benjamin, dos Santos and Warholm represent a remarkable new era in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, putting up times that were at one point unfathomable. Together, the three men own nine of the 10 fastest times in the history of the event – all of them recorded in the past two years.
Winning with dad on the call
In another massive upset Tuesday, Jake Wightman of Great Britain passed Norwegian favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen down the stretch to win the men’s 1500 meters – an especially memorable moment given that Wightman’s father, Geoff, was on hand as one of the in-stadium announcers.
“That’s my son,” the elder Wightman said over the stadium PA system, according to British newspaper The Telegraph. “I coach him, and he’s the world champion.”
Wightman is the first British man to win the event at worlds since 1983.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
