mother and father rejected – the sprinter rose in a special way to become the fastest man in the world

The recent World Championship winner in men’s 100 meters Fred Kerley, 27, has traveled a multi-stage journey to become the world’s fastest man. Kerley is very grateful to his aunt, to whom the runner moved when he was a couple of years old.

– My father went to prison and my mother made wrong choices in her life. Aunt Virginia was the only one who took care of me and my four sisters, Kerley wrote in 2019 on World Athletics’ Spikes blog.

Kerley grew up in the small town of Taylor. In addition to her own children, the aunt took care of Kerley and his siblings, as well as her own brother’s children.

– 13 children lived under the same roof, Kerley wrote.

Kerley recalled that sometimes her aunt would not eat at all so that there would be enough food for Kerley and her siblings.

Just a couple of years ago, the American runner was not known as a tough 100 cannon.

For a long time, his main sport was the 400-meter run. In 2017, Kerley was the second name in the world statistics of the track lap with a top time of 43.70. At that time, only the world record holder ran faster Wayde van Niekerk.

In the same year, Kerley competed in the first adult competition of his career. At the World Championships in London, he finished seventh. The Games also brought the first prestigious medal of his career, when he finished third with the American team in the long relay.

A couple of years later, Kerley took his current record of 43.64 on the track lap. Time is enough for eighth place in the all-time statistics.

He also achieved his first individual medal, finishing third in the 400 meters at the World Championships in Doha. At this point, it seemed strongly that Kerley was aiming for fame as a track lap runner.

The 100 and 200 meter distances were mostly side trips for him. Last year, however, he made a different decision. The athlete who injured his ankle felt that he could not run the curves of the track lap as he wanted because of his ankle.

He went to the US Olympic qualifiers with the hundredth and second places in mind. Kerley, who wildly improved his records during the season, was enough to get to Tokyo, where he was the second Italian in 100 meters by Lamont Marcell Jacobs after.

As a sprinter, Kerley excels especially in versatility. Satanen has clocked a time of 9.76, second place in 19.76, and a lap of the track in 43.64. He is South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk and his compatriots by Michael Norman after that, the third person in history who has broken the 100 under ten seconds, the second under 20 seconds and the track lap under 44 seconds.

Kerley recently told FloTrack that he wants to go big in the 400m. First, however, he aims Usain Bolt’s breaking the world record of 9.58, so the track lap is still not at the top of the rating scale.

– At the moment, my goal is to get more speed so that I can make history.