Chants of &ldquo;USA! USA! USA!&rdquo; rang out across Hayward Field on Saturday night (16) after Fred Kerley led a US sweep of the men&rsquo;s 100m at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
Kerley&rsquo;s decision last year to drop down from the 400m to the 100m paid off in spectacular fashion as he powered past Marvin Bracy-Williams and Trayvon Bromell in the final strides to win the gold in 9.86 and claim the title of the world&rsquo;s fastest man.
Bracy-Williams and Bromell, who were both timed in 9.88, took silver and bronze respectively.
It marked the third US sweep of the 100m medals and the first since 1991, when Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitchell went 1-2-3 at the World Championships in Tokyo.
This time, the sweep came on home soil in front of a full crowd at the first World Championships held in the United States.
&ldquo;We said we were going to do it and we did it,&rdquo; the 27-year-old Kerley said after winning his first individual global title. &ldquo;USA baby!&rdquo;
&ldquo;All three of us wanted the gold,&rdquo; Bromell said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m just happy we could get the sweep at home.&rdquo; 
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 The build-up to the final featured a flypast by two military jets, which proved to be a symbolic precursor to a super-fast race in which four of the eight athletes finished inside 10 seconds.
Half of the finalists were from the host nation; the fourth US athlete was the defending world champion Christian Coleman, who finished sixth in 10.01.
Kerley was in lane four, with Bracy-Williams next to him in lane three, and Coleman and Bromell on the outside in lanes seven and eight.
Coleman got off to the quickest start, but it was Bracy-Williams who quickly moved to the front and paced the field through 70m and 80m, with Bromell charging hard from the outside.
But the tall, powerful Kerley built up momentum at the halfway mark, accelerated towards the line and edged in front in the final five metres, out-leaning the others at the line.
Kerley waited for the result to be posted on the scoreboard, and when his name finally went up as the winner, he threw up his arms in triumph, pounded his chest and took off on a victory lap.
&ldquo;The gold medal means more than anything,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s amazing to do it on home soil with the home crowd behind us. It&rsquo;s a wonderful blessing to get a clean sweep.&rdquo;
Fourth place went to 21-year-old Jamaican Oblique Seville, who ran 9.97 after clocking the fastest time in the semifinals (9.90). South Africa&rsquo;s Akani Simbini was fifth in 10.01 &ndash; his fifth consecutive top-five finish at a global championships. Rounding out the field were Coleman, Japan&rsquo;s Hakim Sani Brown (10.06) and Canada&rsquo;s Aaron Brown (10.07).
After Kerley switched to the short sprints at the start of 2021, many experts scoffed at the decision. But he justified the move by earning the silver medal in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics. And he has been dominant this year, clocking a world-leading 9.76 in the semifinals and 9.77 in the final of the US Championships in Eugene last month.
Kerley ran 9.79 in Friday&rsquo;s heats but ran only 10.02 in winning his semifinal on Saturday &ndash; the first time in nine 100m races this year that he did not break 10 seconds.
But, in the final, Kerley showed the power and determination needed to finally get an individual gold on the world stage. He earned bronze in the 400m at the 2019 World Championships in Doha and holds gold and silver from the 4x400m relay.
Kerley will now focus on adding to his tally. He will be getting ready for the heats of the 200m on Monday and for the relay.
&ldquo;This win means I can do 100m, 200m and 400m,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve got a medal in 400m and 100m. There&rsquo;s only one next.&rdquo;
Winning a medal represented redemption for Bromell, who has battled injuries throughout his career and failed to make the final at the Tokyo Olympics last year after being considered the title favourite.
Bromell broke down in tears on Saturday while being interviewed on the track after the US sweep.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s been seven years since I got a medal through my injuries and everything I dealt with,&rdquo; he said. I know so many people counted me out.&rdquo;
And for Bracy-Williams, he was celebrating his first world outdoor medal on the global stage.
&ldquo;It feels great to get my first medal at home and with an American sweep,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What else could I ask for? All the hard work has paid off with the injuries, the critics. This shows me I've got what it takes to get it done.&rdquo;
Some big names failed to make the final.
Italy&rsquo;s Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs pulled out before the semifinals after failing to fully recover from the hamstring injury that had sidelined him for most of the outdoor season.
&ldquo;A painful choice, I am forced to stop,&rdquo; Jacobs tweeted. &ldquo;I am a fighter and this is why I decided to be in Eugene. Now, in order not to compromise the rest of the season by risking a more serious injury, I have to postpone the challenge. I promise I will do my best to make you dream!&rdquo;
Jamaica&rsquo;s Yohan Blake, the 2011 world champion and five-time national champion, missed out after finishing fourth in his semifinal in 10.12. Canada&rsquo;s Andre De Grasse, the Olympic 200m champion who has struggled with injury and illness this season, was fifth in his semi in 10.21. And African champion Ferdinand Omayala of Kenya, who had made it just in time for Friday&rsquo;s heats after delays in getting his US visa, was fifth in his semifinal in 10.14.
But this day was about those who came through when it counted, and it was Kerley, Bracy-Williams and Bromell who showed the world that US athletes are the king of the sprints once again.
Steve Wilson for World Athletics
&nbsp;
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 75%; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center;" colspan="3">MEN'S 100M MEDALLISTS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Fred Kerley 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">9.86</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Marvin Bracy-Williams 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">9.88</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Trayvon Bromell 🇺🇸 USA</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">9.88</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-championships/oregon22/results/men/100-metres/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;

World Athletics Championships, Oregon 2022

Kerley wins in 9.86 from US compatriots Bracy-Williams and Bromell

USA, USA, USA: Kerley leads American sweep of men’s 100m in Oregon

The wait is almost over. In nine days' time the world's best athletes will descend on Eugene's Hayward Field for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 &ndash; the first outdoor World Championships to ever be held in the United States.
Anticipation is high and here we take a look at some of the storylines well worth following. 
<h2>Life's a breeze for the soaring Swede</h2>
Having been obliged&nbsp;to&nbsp;battle with the weather gods all season and then produced the world&rsquo;s highest ever outdoor vault at the first sight of favourable conditions, Mondo Duplantis has a cool breeze in his favour as he looks&nbsp;to&nbsp;secure the final&nbsp;piece&nbsp;of his major championship gold medal jigsaw in&nbsp;Oregon.
With Olympic and world indoor gold in his possession, plus the world record and European crowns indoors and out, the young Swede &ndash; whose soaring precise vertical position was captured so strikingly on camera in his 6.16m clearance in his home-town Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm last Thursday (30) &ndash; is&nbsp;laid back&nbsp;to&nbsp;the point of horizontal, in the metaphorical sense, as he prepares&nbsp;to&nbsp;close in on what would be his first world outdoor pole vault title.
Even before he launched himself into&nbsp;the sky above the Swedish capital, vaulting 16cm higher than any of his rivals have managed outdoors in 2022, Duplantis was sailing through the outdoor season unburdened by the baggage of any expectations, save his own. That much was clear when he kept winning in the rain and in the wind while the elements conspired&nbsp;to&nbsp;rail against him. 
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 The fact is since planting his Swedish flag atop Mount Olympus&nbsp;Tokyo last year, the 2019 world silver medallist has been a young man with a huge load lifted, reeling off 12 wins out of 12 this year, notching world records at 6.19m and 6.20m, and landing a world indoor title.
&ldquo;The pressure&rsquo;s still going to be there at the World Championships, of course,&rdquo; said Duplantis, who was up bright and early to chill out on the golf course with his family the morning after hitting the heights in Stockholm&rsquo;s awesomely antique 1912 Olympic Stadium.
&ldquo;This whole thing means a lot&nbsp;to&nbsp;me. I want&nbsp;to&nbsp;go out there and do well. Of course, the pressure is going&nbsp;to&nbsp;come internally, but I don&rsquo;t think anything is going&nbsp;to compare with last year&rsquo;s pressure. After that, everything kind of feels like a breeze.
&ldquo;There are still a lot of things I want&nbsp;to&nbsp;accomplish, so I have that pressure on myself. The more and more you jump, the more comfortable you become with things. Even when the pressure&rsquo;s at its highest, I think I&rsquo;ve been able&nbsp;to&nbsp;separate myself from everything and relax. But after the Olympics, it&rsquo;s just kind of like everything&rsquo;s a bonus.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The Olympics was a very stressful period. You train and it feels like everything is built up on this one event. And in my situation especially, I&rsquo;m going in there as huge, huge favourite.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s almost like if I&rsquo;m not&nbsp;to&nbsp;win this event, then it&rsquo;s like a huge disappointment&nbsp;to me and everybody here in Sweden that supports me and wants me&nbsp;to&nbsp;bring home a gold medal.
&ldquo;That was a different level of stress than I&rsquo;d ever experienced. There&rsquo;s just so much weighing on just one single event on one single day. There are lots of crazy things that can happen on one given day. The uncertainties can drive you a little crazy.
&ldquo;After the Olympics, it&rsquo;s like nothing can compare&nbsp;to&nbsp;that feeling. I&rsquo;ve already got one out of the way and I&rsquo;ve already won it, so it feels like I&rsquo;m never going&nbsp;to&nbsp;go through anything that&rsquo;s quite like that
&ldquo;I can imagine it breaking people down. I can understand that.&rdquo;
Born in the USA, and brought up in the deep south in Lafayette, Louisiana, the planet&rsquo;s preeminent pole vaulter also has not the slightest qualm about conflicting loyalties when returning&nbsp;to&nbsp;his homeland as a gold medal hope for his mother&rsquo;s country at the World Athletics Championships&nbsp;Oregon22.
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;ll feel quite normal,&rdquo; said Duplantis, who will be returning&nbsp;to&nbsp;Lafayette&nbsp;to&nbsp;complete his preparations. &ldquo;Oregon&rsquo;s pretty far from Louisiana. It&rsquo;s a pretty place, but I don&rsquo;t get a homey feeling there.&nbsp;
&ldquo;If it was in Louisiana, it would maybe be a little bit of a different story. I feel pretty calm. I think I&rsquo;ll be pretty positive.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ll be proud&nbsp;to&nbsp;have Sweden across my chest. I want&nbsp;to&nbsp;go out there and do something special.&rdquo;
We have been warned. 
<h2>Transformed Ealey chases golden high in Eugene</h2>
This time last year, Chase Ealey was in a slough of despond. Fifth in the US Trials, the shot putter from Springfield, Illinois, was obliged to watch the Tokyo Olympics from afar, lamenting what might have been.
Twelve months on, Ealey sit on top of the world list and boasts an unbeaten seven out of seven record for the 2022 outdoor season. The 27-year-old is very much the woman to beat at Hayward Field. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/627e8a4abf13efcaa3d66f91.jpg" alt="Shot put winner Chase Ealey at the Doha Diamond League" />
Shot put winner Chase Ealey at the Doha Diamond League (&copy; Getty Images)
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Her 20.51m in the US Championships at the hallowed Eugene track put her on top of the world list, ahead of China&rsquo;s Song Jiayuan who finished fifth in Tokyo and threw 20.38m in Shanghai on 16 June.
Ealey flew over to Europe and was just 3cm shy of her mark when completing her competitive preparations for the World Championships with a third Diamond League victory of the season in Stockholm last Thursday (30).
The 2013 Pan American U20 silver medallist owns five of the top nine outdoor marks for the year, and has thrown three of the six 20m-plus distances: 20.51m, 20.48m and 20.13m. Song has thrown 20.38m and 20.20m, and Sarah Mitton a Canadian record 20.33m.
&ldquo;I just feel so much more confidence when I go into meets,&rdquo; said Ealey, basking in the glow of the sun and her latest victory under the twin towers at the top end of Stockholm&rsquo;s 1912 Olympic Stadium.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just, like, ready to go, and I feel really good. I don&rsquo;t feel so much pressure any more because I feel like I can trust myself to throw good. When I didn&rsquo;t make the Olympic team last year, I went to train at Loughborough in the UK with Sophie McKinna and coach Paul Wilson. I&rsquo;ve been friends with Sophie for a very long time.
&ldquo;I started seeing some results and made the quick decision to move there because I wasn&rsquo;t going to mess around. I wasn&rsquo;t going to let that happen. I&rsquo;m doing so well now this year, and I really want to keep that going.&rdquo;
The first tangible result came at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 in March. Ealey&nbsp;took the silver medal behind Portugal&rsquo;s Auriel Dongmo. McKinna, competing for Britain, finished eighth.
Ealey has not been beaten since. So how does she feel, heading back home to take on the rest of the planet&rsquo;s shot putting fraternity with a place at the top of the world list and having seemingly gained a shield of invincibility?
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel too much pressure,&rdquo; insisted Ealey, who finished seventh at the 2019 World Championships in Doha. &ldquo;I trust my coach to set me up to peak really well at the World Championships.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think I&rsquo;ve thrown as far yet as I&rsquo;m going&nbsp;to&nbsp;throw this year. I think we&rsquo;re all just ready for me&nbsp;to&nbsp;throw my furthest - and trusting the process that Paul has&nbsp;to&nbsp;get me there and throw really far when it counts.&rdquo;
Again, we have been warned. 
<h2>Stahl plays it cool as onward Kristjan soldiers</h2>
Shock! Hold the front page!.. Mondo Duplantis is not the only chilled Swede!
After facing the world&rsquo;s media at the preview press conference for the Stockholm Wanda Diamond League meeting, Daniel Stahl spent the evening before his home-town meeting at his parents&rsquo; house in the northern suburb of Solna, playing cards with his mother and grandmother.
Perhaps the world and Olympic discus champion is something of a Cool Hand Luke, keeping his cards close to his chest the following evening with a 67.57m throw that was only good enough for third place &ndash; behind Kristjan Ceh&rsquo;s 70.02m and Mykolas Alekna&rsquo;s 69.81m.
The 29-year-old still heads the 2022 world list with the 71.47m he threw at the Swedish Team Championships in Uppsala on 21 June.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Now I&rsquo;ve won the World Championships and Olympics, I feel no pressure,&rdquo; insisted Stahl as he prepares to defend his title at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The younger guys have the pressure now. I&rsquo;m just going to go there and be calm and do my best, and throw as far as I can.&rdquo;
Most prominent among that young generation, in the literal and metaphorical sense, is of course Ceh. The bespectacled 6ft 9in Clark Kent lookalike whose Superman powers took him to a 71.27m Wanda Diamond League record in Birmingham in May, has got the better of Stahl on five occasions this season, though the old master found some Kryptonite to eclipse him at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku. 
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 Not that the emergence of a potential nemesis has undermined Stahl&rsquo;s equanimity. Far from it.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud of Kristjan,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a very huge talent. There&rsquo;s a lot of other young guys who are growing and growing and getting better and better. I&rsquo;m very excited that the young guys are coming up.
&ldquo;Me and Andrius Gudzius and Lukas Weisshaidinger are older guys now, so we are going down. But it&rsquo;s always good for the younger athletes to grow in this business, to keep the branch growing in the discus.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy for the guys. And, yeah, it keeps me motivated also. It&rsquo;s fun.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I think it&rsquo;s awesome,&rdquo; said Ceh. &ldquo;We have so many guys over 69m, 68m, 67m. I think everybody gets so motivated by it.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It would be different if one person was over 71m and the next was 65m. That would be boring.&rdquo;
Still, the 23-year-old Slovenian finds himself looking over his shoulder as Eugene looms, the burgeoning 19-year-old Alekna &ndash; son of two-time world and Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna &ndash; having moved to third on the 2022 world list with his 69.81m in Stockholm
&ldquo;It was the first time I&rsquo;d seen him,&rdquo; said Ceh, &ldquo;the first time I&rsquo;d seen how he throws, and the first time I&rsquo;d competed against him. The kid is young and talented.&nbsp;
&ldquo;At his age I was throwing 63m. I&rsquo;m impressed.&rdquo;
As well he might be. The stage is set for an intriguing battle in Eugene. 
<h2>Mighty Camacho-Quinn battles&nbsp;to&nbsp;overcome mental barrier&nbsp;</h2>
It was at the final Wanda Diamond League fixture before Oregon that one of the stellar performers spoke about feeling something other than at one with the world ahead of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
Without any prompting, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn shared insight into her finding the burden of her status as Olympic 100m hurdles champion a far from comfortable experience.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a mental battle,&rdquo; the pride of Puerto Rico said. &ldquo;Honestly, it can become overwhelming.
&ldquo;Every time you step out there, you hear, &lsquo;This is the Olympic champion.&rsquo; The pressure that comes with that, you&rsquo;ve got to live up to it. I&rsquo;ve got to the point where I say to myself, &lsquo;Just focus on what you&rsquo;re doing because at the end of the day you&rsquo;re still Olympic champion.&rsquo;
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know, I&rsquo;ve just had to process it. I just feel like everything I did last year was pretty big, especially with the times I put out. Now, if things don&rsquo;t go as planned, it can take a toll on you mentally.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s my first World Championships. I&rsquo;ve never been. I&rsquo;m trying to get the same mindset as I had last year going into the Olympic Games. I&rsquo;m hoping it&rsquo;ll come when I get to Eugene. I hope I get a little bit more of an adrenaline rush.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/627ba727f25dc86b23559407.jpg" alt="Jasmine Camacho-Quinn on her way to a 100m hurdles win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bermuda" />
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn on her way to a 100m hurdles win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bermuda (&copy; USATF)
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Camacho-Quinn heads into the World Championships standing third on the world list with the 12.37 she clocked at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome on 9 June &ndash; behind world record-holder Kendra Harrison and Alaysha Johnson, first and second in the US Championships in 12.34 and 12.35.
She has won eight of her 10 races, being unable to finish at the Drake Relays in April and finishing a close second to Johnson after getting caught in her blocks at the Puerto Rico Classic in May.
Last year she won all of her races save for one qualification and clocked the five fastest times, posting a 12.27 PB in her Olympic semifinal. Harrison, who took silver in Tokyo, set her 12.20 world record at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in London six years ago, after missing selection for the Rio Olympics. 
<h2>Can troubled Jacobs still pick up Kerley&rsquo;s gauntlet?</h2>
Fred Kerley&rsquo;s stunning 9.76 semifinal at the US Championships on 24 June &ndash; followed up, for good measure, with 9.77 in the final &ndash; could hardly have been a more timely marker ahead of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on the same Hayward Field track.
Sixth on the all-time list, the second time any mortal has ever clocked a pair of sub-9.80s on the same day, and a world lead, it was also the fastest ever time by a US sprinter on home soil. In other words: a warning shot to the rest of the sprinting world. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62b6def4f212ca9a32521077.jpg" alt="Fred Kerley in action in the 100m at the US Championships" />
Fred Kerley in action in the 100m at the US Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
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Across in Europe, Italy&rsquo;s Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs took to the Twittershere to respond to the man who took silver behind him in Tokyo last year, tweeting: &ldquo;Looking for a nice battle! See you in Oregon.&rdquo;
Obliged to play catch up following the muscle injury that ruled him out of Diamond League meetings in Eugene, Rome and Oslo, the world indoor 60m champion was hoping to lay down a marker of his own in Stockholm but withdrew from the field after feeling some pain in training the evening before the meeting.
According&nbsp;to&nbsp;his coach, Paolo Camossi, it was purely a precautionary measure. &ldquo;The situation is in hand,&rdquo; he insisted.
Earlier, at the preview press conference, Jacobs said he was considering another race at his training camp in Oregon. If he fails to make that, the world indoor 60m champion will head into the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 ranked 37th on the world list, courtesy of the 10.04 he clocked in Savona on 18 May.
Having returned&nbsp;to&nbsp;action with a 10.12 win at the Italian Championships in Rieti the previous weekend, Jacobs was in bullish mood at the Stockholm press conference when asked about the challenge of facing Kerley.
&ldquo;I have a very good friendship with Fred,&rdquo; he said. I&rsquo;m happy&nbsp;to&nbsp;see that he has run well this season. I&rsquo;m best at expressing myself when I&rsquo;m at the championships, so I&rsquo;m confident going into&nbsp;Eugene.&rdquo;
For those who like to consider historical precedents, no speed merchant without a starred and striped vest has ever taken a global 100m title in the US. At the St Louis Olympics of 1904 and the LA Games of 1932 and 1984, the winners were Archie Hahn, Eddie Tolan and Carl Lewis.
The US has also filled the top two spots in the last two World Championships finals.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

Getting up to speed as the world’s best athletes prepare to hit full flow

Road to Oregon22 – five narratives with nine days to go

Fred Kerley is an international man of mystery. He&rsquo;s a threat to win any race he enters, no matter if it&rsquo;s the 100m, the 200m or the 400m.
&ldquo;Fred is a Swiss Army knife,&rdquo; says US teammate Michael Cherry. &ldquo;He can do a lot of different sprint events.&rdquo;
Naturally, inquisitive minds want to know: What will Kerley run in June at the US Championships, where the team will be selected for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22?
&ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to wait and see,&rdquo; he says.
The meeting is only four days, with three rounds in each of Kerley&rsquo;s events. He quickly puts to rest any notion he&rsquo;d attempt the triple: &ldquo;No, it&rsquo;s a lot on the body.&rdquo;
And so the guessing game begins. Kerley is the only man in history who has won Wanda Diamond League races in the 100m, 200m and 400m.
In 2019, he contested only 400m races, culminating in the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
Then Kerley stunned the athletics world by skipping the 400m at the US Olympic Trials and placing third in the 100m and fourth in the 200m. He became the surprise silver medallist in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics with a PB of 9.84. Switching back and forth between the two events, he finished his season with a spectacular 19.76 in the 200m at altitude in Nairobi. 
<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6268010b2b23f0f3232fb15d.jpg" alt="USA's Fred Kerley secures 100m silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games" />
USA's Fred Kerley secures 100m silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games (&copy; Getty Images)
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On 16 April, the 26-year-old ran a sizzling 19.80 in the 200m at the USATF Golden Games in Walnut, California, bettering his own world-leading time of 20.04. Kerley chased down Michael Norman in the last 50 metres, his final burst taking him across the line at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event.
As Kerley&rsquo;s momentum carried him around the curve, he held his arms out wide as if to say, &ldquo;How do you like that?&rdquo;
&ldquo;Boy, is he a gamer,&rdquo; said Sanya Richards-Ross, the Olympic gold medallist and television commentator. &ldquo;He shows up in finals every single time. This young man always kind of has this chip on his shoulder. He keeps wanting to prove to us&hellip; &lsquo;Fred, we see you. You&rsquo;re a champion.&rsquo;&rdquo;
Norman could feel him. Kerley was on his right, methodically gaining down the stretch. &ldquo;You just kind of get a sense of presence,&rdquo; the 24-year-old says, &ldquo;you know what I mean?&rdquo;
Norman ran 19.83 in his season opener and tweeted after the race that he &ldquo;can&rsquo;t be too mad&rdquo; because of his fast time. He added: &ldquo;Much respect for @fkerley99 but I&rsquo;m going to need that rematch sometime this year,&rdquo; to which Kerley replied: &ldquo;Respect.&rdquo; 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Respect <a href="https://t.co/ENZi0vGAtH">https://t.co/ENZi0vGAtH</a>
&mdash; Fred Kerley (@fkerley99) <a href="https://twitter.com/fkerley99/status/1515510175066517512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
 While Kerley is a prolific tweeter, favouring the hashtag #IAMHISTORY, he is a man of few words.
His thoughts on reeling in Norman? &ldquo;I got the W.&rdquo;
His goals for the rest of the season? &ldquo;Win.&rdquo;
What about time-wise? &ldquo;Win,&rdquo; Kerley repeats. &ldquo;Time is not my concern, it&rsquo;s all about the Ws that come.&rdquo;
The 6-foot-3 Kerley is undefeated so far this season across all three distances. In early March, he clocked 44.47 in the 400m in a meeting in Grenada, a time that was No.1 until Cherry went 44.28 at the Golden Games, while Olympic champion Steven Gardiner has since improved the world lead to 44.22. Kerley posted a time of 9.99 in the 100m, which ranks fifth on the world list, in a meet in Florida in late March.
His next race will be a 100m on 7 May at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi, this season&rsquo;s next World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting.
<h2>Renewed rivalries</h2>
Kerley says he decides which distance to run based on where his training is taking him. Of course, the 100m and the 400m place different demands on his body. One requires explosiveness, the other a tolerance to pain.
&ldquo;Both of them got to give and take,&rdquo; Kerley adds. &ldquo;One got your head spinning and one got your legs spinning, too.&rdquo;
Kerley believes his versatility can help promote his sport. He has rivals at every distance, from Norman, Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman in the US to Kirani James, Marcell Jacobs and Andre De Grasse from the international ranks.
&ldquo;Hey, I like to compete, so rivalry&rsquo;s rivalry,&rdquo; Kerley says. &ldquo;I feel like it&rsquo;s very important to have a rivalry in the sport because that&rsquo;s what&rsquo;s going to get more attention to track and field&mdash; like football and basketball. They&rsquo;ve got rivalries. But if we have rivalries between us, we&rsquo;re going to be big.&rdquo; 
<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/626801f365219027c99d31f3.jpg" alt="Fred Kerley and Michael Norman go head-to-head at the USATF Golden Games" />
Fred Kerley and Michael Norman go head-to-head at the USATF Golden Games (&copy; Getty Images)
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Kerley and Norman are two of the three members of the exclusive, sub-10, sub-20, sub-44 second club. The other is Wayde van Niekerk, the 29-year-old 2016 Olympic champion from South Africa.
Head-to-head, Kerley has the faster time in the 100m &mdash; 9.84 to 9.86 &mdash; while Norman is quicker at the 200m &mdash; 19.70 to 19.76. Norman also has the better 400m time of 43.45 to 43.64. Van Niekerk&rsquo;s times, meanwhile, are 9.94, 19.84 and the world record of 43.03.
While Kerley and Norman are cordial, they are both also supremely competitive. &ldquo;He does the same events as me &mdash; everybody is my enemy once you touch the track,&rdquo; Kerley says.
Norman has a similar mindset. &ldquo;Nobody wants to lose to anybody,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;So every time we race each other, it&rsquo;s like who&rsquo;s going to get the best of who that race.&rdquo;
He adds of Kerley: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s cool. All respect to Fred, no beef or animosity, or nothing like that. He&rsquo;s a great competitor, he&rsquo;s a good guy.&rdquo;
Norman says their rivalry keeps the sport &ldquo;unpredictable&rdquo;.
&ldquo;When it comes having somebody who does an extremely similar thing as you,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;it just brings out the best in both of us and it elevates each other, so there&rsquo;ll be plenty more races down the road.&rdquo;
Kerley adds that marketability and popularity &mdash; the 100m is the more glamorous event in the public eye &mdash; will have no bearing on which events he will choose for the World Championships.
However, he did acknowledge last year that he does have a long-term goal.
&ldquo;I want to be a legend, like Usain Bolt,&rdquo; Kerley said.
<h2>No secret to success</h2>
Originally a 200m runner coming out of high school, Kerley moved up to the full lap in college. At Texas A&amp;M, he won two NCAA titles. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/626803120805e5d0c23187f2.jpg" alt="US sprinter Fred Kerley" />
US sprinter Fred Kerley (&copy; Getty Images)
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He says there&rsquo;s no secret to how he is able to compete in three distances now. &ldquo;Training,&rdquo; Kerley explains. &ldquo;Training. And training.&rdquo;
But there has to be something else.
Michael Johnson was the Olympic gold medallist and world record-holder in both the 200m (19.32) and 400m (43.18), but his best time in the 100m was 10.09.
Usain Bolt holds the world records in the 100m (9.58) and 200m (19.19), but went no faster than 45.28 in the 400m. Carl Lewis and Jesse Owens were triple threats combined with the long jump, not the quarter-mile.
Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic silver medallist in the 200m, is a member of the sub-10, sub-20 and sub-45 club.
&ldquo;What Fred&rsquo;s been doing is pretty incredible,&rdquo; Bednarek says.
He adds that the transition between events requires a lot of adjustments. &ldquo;In the 400,&rdquo; Bednarek says, &ldquo;we&rsquo;re never really explosive. It&rsquo;s more maintaining your rhythm and the lactate and see who has the most guts to finish that last 150 stretch. In the 400, you can make a mistake, but you can correct it. In the 200 and the 100, you don&rsquo;t really have time.&rdquo;
After Kerley completed his Diamond League triple last year by winning the 100m at the Brussels meeting, a certain Twitter account posed a question.
&ldquo;So&hellip; which event will @fkerley99 focus on next year? Asking for a friend,&rdquo; wrote the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.
&ldquo;800,&rdquo; Kerley replied, followed by three laughing emojis. &ldquo;Naw I just playing.&rdquo;
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

Fred Kerley is a threat to win any race he enters, no matter if it’s the 100m, the 200m or the 400m.

Versatile sprint force Kerley keeps Oregon options open

Fast times &ndash; some with the help of a breeze &ndash; and one speedy turnaround highlighted the USATF Golden Games at Mt SAC&rsquo;s Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California on Saturday (16).
However, the second stop in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold series wasn&rsquo;t as blustery as the first in Bermuda last weekend. In the final race of the meeting, Fred Kerley had a legal tailwind to prevail in the highly anticipated men&rsquo;s 200m.
With the wind gauge reading 1.6m/s, Kerley, the Olympic 100m runner-up, chased down compatriot Michael Norman and clocked a world-leading time of 19.80 to eclipse his previous best this season of 20.04.
Norman, who had an excellent start, was second in 19.83 followed by Olympic 400m hurdles silver medallist Rai Benjamin in 20.01.
&ldquo;I came in pretty confident,&rdquo; said Kerley, who has also clocked times of 44.47 for 400m and 9.99 in the 100m so far this year. &ldquo;The race felt good and I finished strong. I got the &lsquo;W&rsquo;.&rdquo;
Kerley, whose time was four-hundredths off his lifetime best, said he has only one goal leading into the rest of the season: &ldquo;Win.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The whole part of track is competing and that&rsquo;s what I love to do,&rdquo; he added.
Norman, a gold medallist in the 4x400m in Tokyo, said he understood what he did wrong in the race. &ldquo;I kind of got excited and let the race plan leave my mind,&rdquo; Norman said. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t run a great race, but it was a good opener so I just need to make the adjustments.&rdquo;
Gabby Thomas won the women&rsquo;s 200m a mere 24 minutes after placing third in the 100m. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/625b5719c742b8c5781354d8.JPG" alt="Gabby Thomas on her way to winning the 200m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC" />
Gabby Thomas on her way to winning the 200m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC (&copy; Kirby Lee)
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 Thomas, the Olympic bronze medallist from Tokyo, ran 22.02 (1.9m/s), just off the world-leading mark of 21.96 run by Favour Ofili a day earlier in Florida. In the 100m, Thomas ran a wind-aided 10.86 (3.3m/s) to finish behind Twanisha Terry at 10.77 and Aleia Hobbs in 10.80.
&ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect (the turnaround) to be that quick,&rdquo; said Thomas, who had been chatting animatedly in the gap between events. &ldquo;I think I just got a little distracted with the media and talking to my coach and my agents, but it was a good warmup for the 200m and good preparation mentally.&rdquo;
Thomas also competed in Bermuda and said she was feeling fatigued after a tough week of travel. How much faster could she have gone if the 200m had been her only race instead of her third of the day? &ldquo;Oh gosh, hard to say,&rdquo; Thomas said. &ldquo;I would have liked to have dipped under 22, but you get what you get.&rdquo;
Olympic 100m and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah ran the preliminary race of the 100m with a world-leading time of 10.89, then opted not to run the final.
Terry was content to claim that win with her fastest 100m, to beat her previous wind-aided time of 10.79 at the US Olympic Trials last year.
&ldquo;At least it was at my back this time!&rdquo; Terry said of the wind, which was in her face when she ran in the 200m in Bermuda, placing seventh. &ldquo;I told myself to stay patient and everything else would fall into place.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/625b56d0a0079f69f962289c.JPG" alt="Twanisha Terry wins the 100m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC" />
Twanisha Terry wins the 100m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC (&copy; Kirby Lee)
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 Micah Williams of the University of Oregon &ndash; who hopes to star at the World Championships on his home track later this summer in Eugene &ndash; won the men&rsquo;s 100m with a wind-aided time of 9.83 (2.5m/s), with Brandon Carnes second in 9.93.
Michael Cherry powered to victory in the men&rsquo;s 400m, posting a world-leading time of 44.28. Alison Dos Santos, the Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist, was second in a big PB of 44.54 with Bryce Deadmon third (45.13) and Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic 200m runner-up, taking fourth (45.37).
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been training super hard, so I&rsquo;m glad I can come out and show it off today,&rdquo; Cherry said. &ldquo;Just to see that I know the sky&rsquo;s the limit the rest of the season. When you have confidence, it&rsquo;s so hard to knock it down. I just believe in myself.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/625b56efa0079f69f962289f.JPG" alt="Michael Cherry wins the 400m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC" />
Michael Cherry wins the 400m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC (&copy; Kirby Lee)
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 Cherry said that he opened with 45.9 seconds last year and finished at 44.03. &ldquo;This year it&rsquo;s 44.2,&rdquo; he said with a grin, &ldquo;so hopefully I&rsquo;ll finish at 43.2.&rdquo;
Valarie Allman had an impressive series in the women&rsquo;s discus, topped by a best of 69.46m &ndash; exactly two metres shy of the continental record she set last week. Jorinde Van Klinken led the rest of the field at 62.91m.
Allman said she was happy to be part of the &ldquo;incredibly rich history at Mt SAC,&rdquo; where she was making her first appearance. But she said that after training in calm conditions in Texas, she didn&rsquo;t adjust as well to the wind as she would have liked to get the lift she needed.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re chasing that big one,&rdquo; Allman said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s one thing to want it; it&rsquo;s another thing to know it&rsquo;s in you and I think I&rsquo;m kind of starting to get to that spot of figuring out, &lsquo;How do I reach my potential in the moment?&rsquo; It&rsquo;s a journey, but I&rsquo;m hoping one of these days I can find it when I&rsquo;m in the ring.&rdquo; 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/625b5757c742b8c5781354db.JPG" alt="Valarie Allman, winner of the discus at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC" />
Valarie Allman, winner of the discus at the Continental Tour Gold meeting at Mt SAC (&copy; Kirby Lee)
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 In the men&rsquo;s discus, world and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl threw 67.65m, the second-best performance of the year behind his own 69.11m.
Tonea Marshall won the 100m hurdles in 12.46 with world record-holder Kendra Harrison second at 12.56. Tia Jones was third (12.59), followed by Tobi Amusan (12.61) and Cindy Sember (12.63).
&ldquo;You have legends in this race,&rdquo; Marshall said, &ldquo;but I&rsquo;m just glad that I was able to come out on top and do what I do best, which is focus on me.&rdquo;
Brooke Andersen produced a final-round effort of 76.76m to win the women's hammer, overtaking Camryn Rogers who moved into the lead in round five when equalling the Canadian record of 75.73m.
Elsewhere in the field events, Vashti Cunningham easily won the women&rsquo;s high jump by clearing 1.96m to share the world lead, while Keturah Orji took the women's triple jump with a wind-aided 14.53m (2.6m/s).
World 800m silver medallist Raevyn Rogers opened her season with a winning run of 1:58.77, much faster than her previous openers. &ldquo;I felt free, I felt loose,&rdquo; said Rogers, who broke the collegiate record at Mt SAC in 2017 while racing for Oregon. &ldquo;I feel like I ran my best races by running free and running natural.&rdquo;
She also ran with a blue tint to her hair. &ldquo;I think it&rsquo;ll be my signature,&rdquo; Rogers said. &ldquo;I feel like also this is a year of me stepping into how I feel like I am. My mom&rsquo;s like, &lsquo;Oh, maybe it&rsquo;s a phase&rsquo;. I&rsquo;m like &lsquo;no, I don&rsquo;t think I can go back to brown or blonde&rsquo;. I feel like the blue is me.&rdquo;
Two-time Olympian Devon Allen won the 110m hurdles in 13.35 after running the first round in the men&rsquo;s 100m and clocking a PB of 10.12. He opted not to contest the 100m final, but Allen is pulling out all the stops this season since it will be his last on the track before joining the Philadelphia Eagles professional football team.
&ldquo;I was hoping to go under 10 seconds in the 100m,&rdquo; said Allen. He said he&rsquo;s been working on his start and it wasn&rsquo;t very good in the hurdles. &ldquo;I thought I wasn&rsquo;t going to be as tired as I was from the 100m to that race, but it&rsquo;s OK. It&rsquo;s the first race of the season and I&rsquo;ve got plenty of time to get my fitness up.&rdquo;
In the men&rsquo;s pole vault, Clayton Fritsch and Jacob Wooten claimed the early top spot on the world list at 5.80m, with Fritsch winning on fewer misses. He cleared 5.70m on his first attempt while Wooten needed two tries.
Darrell Hill threw 21.68m to win the men&rsquo;s shot put, while Danniel Thomas-Dodd won the women&rsquo;s shot with 18.92m.
Laquan Nairn leaped 8.22m in the last round of the men&rsquo;s long jump to win with a PB. Some other excitement in the event came when a discus thrown by Laulauga Tausaga landed in the pit. Luckily, the men were between jumps.
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

World-leading marks from Elaine Thompson-Herah and Michael Cherry

Kerley flies to 200m victory in close clash with Norman at Mt SAC

An intriguing field in the men&rsquo;s 200m highlights the USATF Golden Games on Saturday (16), while Olympic champion Valarie Allman will attempt to break her North American discus record.
The second stop in the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Series will be held at the newly renovated Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, California, as part of the Mt SAC Relays. While the meeting features some of the world&rsquo;s top sprinters, they&rsquo;re not all in their signature events. The men&rsquo;s 200m in particular is shaping up as an early-season battle for bragging rights.
Fred Kerley, the Olympic silver medallist in the 100m, and Christian Coleman, the world champion in the 100m and runner-up at the recent World Indoor Championships in the 60m, will take on Rai Benjamin, the Olympic runner-up in the 400m hurdles, and Michael Norman, a 400m specialist who is versatile across the board.
The women&rsquo;s 100m is just as loaded. Multiple Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who last year improved to 10.54, lines up for her first 100m of the year and will take on Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas and Olympic 100m finalist Teahna Daniels, fresh off her victory into a strong headwind at the breezy USATF Bermuda Games last weekend.
Three other sprinters from that race are also in this field, including Olympic teammate Javianne Oliver, USA's Twanisha Terry and Aleia Hobbs, who ran 11.06 earlier this month. Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago and Briana Williams of Jamaica, both of whom competed in the world indoor 60m final last month, offer top international competition.
Meanwhile, USA&rsquo;s Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic silver medallist in the 200m, will race the 400m, an event in which he is equally at ease. Bednarek will face Alison Dos Santos, the bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles from Brazil, and Michael Cherry, who was fourth at the Olympics in the 400m and finished 2021 strong with the Diamond League trophy. The American has run only a relay so far this season.
Kerley has run one race apiece this season at each distance: the 100m (9.99), the 200m (a world-leading 20.04) and the 400m (a world-leading 44.47), but has not competed since 26 March. Coleman ran a 200m in 20.25 last weekend, while Benjamin and Norman are opening their 2022 campaigns.
Joseph Amoah of Ghana, who has run 20.08 in the 200m, Jerome Blake of Canada and Jaron Flournoy of the USA round out the field for the race, which will be the last event of the elite meet.
The meeting, which is also part of the 2022 USATF Journey to Gold Outdoor Tour Series, also offers a preview of the men&rsquo;s 100m at the upcoming US Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Veteran Michael Rodgers, Ameer Webb (who ran 10.04 last weekend), Isiah Young, Kyree King, Jarrion Lawson and Demek Kemp are among those hoping to make the team to compete at the World Championships, also in Eugene.
Devon Allen, the two-time Olympian for the USA who was fourth in Tokyo in the 110m hurdles, is entered in both the 100m and the hurdles. He recently announced he has signed to play professional football after this season.
Kendra Harrison, the Olympic silver medallist from the USA in the 100m hurdles, will compete against Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who was fourth in Tokyo, fellow US Olympian Anna Cockrell, 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Kristi Castlin, who was part of the US medal sweep in Rio, and British Olympian Cindy Sember. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60d065de953a9cd50196b96b.jpg" alt="Kendra Harrison after winning the 100m hurdles at the US Trials" />
Kendra Harrison after winning the 100m hurdles at the US Trials (&copy; Getty Images)
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 The women&rsquo;s 200m includes Gabby Thomas, the Olympic bronze medallist from the USA who opened her season in the 100m in Bermuda, Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, world silver medallist Brittany Brown, and two-time US Olympian Jenna Prandini, who is opening her season at the Golden Games.
In a battle between US sprinters, Shamier Little, the 400m hurdler who has also had success in the flat race, will run the 400m against 2017 world champion Phyllis Francis, world 400m hurdles champion Dalilah Muhammad and Olympian Kendall Ellis.
Raevyn Rogers, the world silver medallist from the USA, will run the women&rsquo;s 800m while the men&rsquo;s 800m includes Bryce Hoppel, the bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships making his outdoor debut and fellow US Olympian Isaiah Jewett.
Allman picked up where she left off after her brilliant 2021 season, and then some. Last weekend in her second meet Allman broke her own continental record with a toss of 71.46m, the longest throw in the world in 30 years. She is now the No.15 thrower in history. Shadae Lawrence of Jamaica, who was seventh at the Olympics, and US Olympian Rachel Dincoff will challenge her in the Golden Games.
Daniel Stahl of Sweden, the world and Olympic champion, and teammate and Olympic silver medallist Simon Pettersson lead the men&rsquo;s discus field. Stahl has thrown a world-leading 69.11m this season. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/60e4a6d06c28f3e4b04d136e.jpg" alt="Daniel Stahl contests the discus at the Gyulai Memorial" />
Daniel Stahl contests the discus at the Gyulai Memorial (&copy; Gyulai Istvan Memorial)
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 Raven Saunders, the Olympic silver medallist, is the top contender in the women&rsquo;s shot put and will throw against Tokyo finalists Fanny Roos of Sweden and Portious Warren of Trinidad and Tobago. Darrell Hill, who was fourth at the US Olympic Trials in the men&rsquo;s shot, will face Olympian Payton Otterdahl, who was third, and Josh Owotunde, who was fifth. Adrian Piperi has thrown 21.54m for fourth on the 2022 world list, while Hill has a toss of 21.25m to rank sixth.
Bridgett Williams of the USA is tied for the world lead in the women&rsquo;s pole vault at 4.70m while Katerina Stefanidi of Greece, the 2016 Olympic champion who was fourth in Tokyo, has cleared 4.65m this season.
US high jumper Vashti Cunningham, who will be opening her outdoor season, has been competing at the Mt SAC Relays since she was in high school. The world bronze medallist will go up against Tyra Gittens of Trinidad and Tobago, who has the second-highest mark this year of 1.95m. She competed in the Olympics in the long jump.
Keturah Orji, a two-time Olympian for the USA in the triple jump, is coming off a seventh-place finish at the World Indoor Championships, while Carter Shell is the top US athlete this season in the men&rsquo;s long jump.
Brooke Andersen and Gwen Berry, both Olympic finalists for the USA, will go head-to-head in the women&rsquo;s hammer, where Andersen has the world-leading toss of 77.26m. Camryn Rogers has a throw of 74.80m for second.
Olympic finalists Rudy Winkler and Daniel Haugh of the USA will take on Humberto Mansilla and Gabriel Kehr of Chile in the men&rsquo;s hammer.
Karen Rosen for World Athletics

Olympic champions Valarie Allman and Daniel Stahl highlight the discus contests

Enthralling sprint clashes on tap at Mt SAC

Grenada&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic 400m champion Kirani James will continue his comeback at the Ostrava Golden Spike, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on 19 May.
The 28-year-old has raced sparingly over the past few years but opened his season with a 44.88 400m win at the Canyon Invitational in Phoenix last month.
Now he prepares to return to the Ostrava event for the first time since 2013, when he won in 44.49, while the Czech city is also where he claimed World Youth Championships silver in 2007.
Among those lining up alongside him will be home favourite Pavel Maslak, the three-time world indoor champion.
Another top 400m runner in action will be the USA&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Fred Kerley, who has focused on the 100m and 200m so far this season, with respective times of 9.91 and 20.24. That will continue in Ostrava, as he is set to take on the double.
In the 200m he will be joined by his compatriot Kenny Bednarek, who recently finished second at the USATF Golden Games with 19.94.
<h3>Dibaba set for 1500m</h3>
Ethiopia&rsquo;s world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba is yet to race outdoors this season and will be targeting the 1500m meeting record of 3:59.05 set last year by Kenya&rsquo;s Faith Kipyegon when she takes to the Mestsky Stadion track.
Czech duo Diana Mezulianikova and Simona Vrzalova will be aiming for the Olympic standard.
Britain&rsquo;s world U20 indoor record-holder Keely Hodgkinson will race the 800m against sub-1:59 runners Lovisa Lindh, Hedda Hynne and Lore Hoffmann, while Bosnian world silver medalist Amel Tuka will contest the men&rsquo;s event against Hodgkinson&rsquo;s fellow British teenager Max Burgin plus Poland&rsquo;s Adam Kszczot, Patryk Dobek, Mateusz Borkowski and Michal Rozmys.
In the men&rsquo;s 1500m, current world-leader Adam Ali Musaab from Qatar will face Poland&rsquo;s Marcin Lewandowski and Czech trio Jakub Holusa, Filip Sasinek and Jan Fris.
Other athletes to have previously been confirmed for the meeting include world pole vault record-holder Mondo Duplantis, 2017 world javelin champion Johannes Vetter, world half marathon champion Jacob Kiplimo in the 10,000m and Joshua Cheptegei, who last year set world records over 5000m and 10,000m and this time will race over 3000m.
The Golden Spike was granted an exemption from the Czech Republic&rsquo;s ban on holding mass events, and the meeting is permitted to welcome 1500 fans into the stadium.
Organisers for World Athletics

Grenada’s 2012 Olympic 400m champion Kirani James will continue his comeback at the Ostrava Golden Spike, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, on 19 May.

James, Kerley and Dibaba added to Ostrava fields

World 400m bronze medallist Fred Kerley set his fifth 100m PB of the year, smashing through the 10-second barrier for the first time in his career to clock 9.91 (2.0m/s) at the TRUFit Sprint Classic in Miami on Saturday (24).
The 25-year-old, who before this year hadn&rsquo;t seriously contested the 100m for six years, set PBs of 10.15 and 10.11 in Miami last month, then followed it with 10.06 and 10.03 in Clermont three weeks ago.
His improvement continued today in Miami. After a comfortable 10.16 run in the heats, he followed it with a world-leading 9.91 run in the final, finishing a metre clear of Joshua Washington (10.01) and Jamaica&rsquo;s Julian Forte (10.03).
Kerley now becomes just the third man in history to have broken 10 seconds for 100m and 44 seconds for 400m, joining Wayde van Niekerk and Michael Norman in that exclusive club.
Jamaica&rsquo;s 2015 world 100m finalist Natasha Morrison was a convincing winner of the women&rsquo;s short sprint. After a 10.98 run in the heats, she won the final in a PB of 10.87 (1.3m/s). Tynia Gaither of The Bahamas was second in 11.02.
Elsewhere in Miami, European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes won the 200m in a wind-assisted 19.93 (3.6m/s).
<h3>Vetter throws&nbsp;91.50m</h3>
Germany&rsquo;s 2017 world javelin champion Johannes Vetter sent his spear well beyond the 90-metre line in Offenburg on Saturday (24).
Vetter, who last year moved to No.2 on the world all-time list, opened his account with 86.12m then improved with each of his next four throws: 87.59m, 88.21m and 88.32m before launching his best effort, 91.50m, in round five. He rounded out his series with 87.12m.
He has thrown farther on just five other occasions.
Over in China, world indoor silver medallist Su Bingtian recorded his first sub-10-second clocking of the year, winning the 100m in 9.98 at the East China District Meeting in Zhaoqing on Saturday (24).
The national record-holder attacked the early stage of the race and quickly built up a lead over the rest of the field. Xie Zhenye ran well in the second half, seemingly matching Su&rsquo;s pace, but he remained a couple of strides behind to finish in 10.16.
Asian bronze medallist Song Jiayuan smashed through the 19-metre barrier for the first time in her career to win the shot put with 19.32m. Meanwhile, world bronze medallist Lu Huihui won the javelin with 64.40m. She took just one throw, then passed the rest of her attempts.
<h3>Orji breaks US triple jump record</h3>
Olympic fourth-place finisher Keturah Orji reclaimed the US triple jump record at the Chula Vista HP #2 meeting on Sunday (25).
The 25-year-old, who earlier this month set a long jump PB of 6.85m, bounded out to 14.92m (1.1m/s) with her opening effort, adding eight centimetres to the national record set by Tori Franklin in 2018. Orji had two more valid, albeit wind-assisted, marks in her series: 14.74m and 14.56m.
Harrison Williams, the NCAA indoor heptathlon champion in 2019, added 251 points to his decathlon PB in Chula Vista. He set PBs in the 100m (10.64), long jump (7.70m), shot put (14.34m) and javelin (48.86m) en route to his winning score of 8439, moving him to 11th on the US all-time list.
Chantel Malone again surpassed seven metres in the long jump, leaping wind-assisted marks of 7.10m (4.7m/s) and 7.06m (4.7m/s) before a legal 7.05m (1.6m/s) to win the competition ahead of four-time world gold medallist Brittney Reese with 7.05m (2.4m/s).
Competing for the first time since his fifth place at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Darrell Hill threw 21.76m to win the shot put.
<h3>Harrison improves outdoor best</h3>
In his first outdoor long jump competition of the year, JuVaughn Harrison picked up from where he left off indoors, leaping a world-leading 8.44m (0.8m/s) at the LSU Alumni Gold meeting in Baton Rouge on Saturday (24).
The 21-year-old had improved his personal best to 8.45m at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March as part of the best ever single-day long jump and high jump double he achieved, which also saw him clear 2.30m.
This time the Louisiana State University student athlete improved his outdoor long jump best by 24 centimetres, and before that 8.44m leap in the fourth round he also jumped 8.18m (1.5m/s) and a wind-assisted 8.15m (3.4m/s).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
8⃣.4⃣4⃣ Meters ✈️ ▪️ <a href="https://twitter.com/jaay_jumps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jaay_jumps</a> ▪️ 27' 8.25" ▪️ LSU School Record ▪️ 2021 World Lead ▪️ 6th Best Performer in Collegiate History<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeauxTigers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GeauxTigers</a> <a href="https://t.co/iubEMzL2Pm">pic.twitter.com/iubEMzL2Pm</a>
&mdash; LSU Track &amp; Field (@LSUTrackField) <a href="https://twitter.com/LSUTrackField/status/1386051036259840000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2021</a></blockquote>
 World pole vault record-holder Mondo Duplantis also achieved a world lead at this early stage of the season, clearing 5.90m before having one attempt at 6 metres.
Noah Williams stormed to a world-leading time of 44.30 for a big PB in his first outdoor 400m since 2019. Bryce Deadmon, who had gone into the race as world-leader with 44.62, further improved with another PB of 44.58 in second.
Aleia Hobbs achieved another sub-11 clocking to win the women&rsquo;s 100m in 10.91 (0.7m/s), with Tamara Clark dipping under 11 seconds for the first time with a PB of 10.96 in second. The men&rsquo;s results were led by Andrew Hudson&rsquo;s 10.17 (-0.4m/s).
LSU&rsquo;s 19-year-old Sean Burrell improved to 49.12 to win the 400m hurdles, taking more than a second off his week-old PB, while world leader with 19.81 Terrance Laird achieved his second sub-20 second 200m of the year but this time was assisted by a 2.4m/s tailwind as he clocked 19.82 to win ahead of Micaiah Harris with 20.08.
In the women&rsquo;s long jump, Deborah Acquah twice improved the Ghanaian record &ndash; first jumping 6.75m (2.0m/s) and then 6.81m (1.6m/s).
Tonea Marshall clocked a wind-assisted 12.53 (2.6m/s) to Tara Davis&rsquo; 12.61 to win the 100m hurdles, while Robert Dunning won the 110m hurdles in a PB of 13.28 (1.9m/s).
A close women&rsquo;s 400m saw Charokee Young and Favour Ofili both run PBs of 51.49, with Young getting the nod for victory.
Jon Mulkeen and Jess Whittington for World Athletics

World 400m bronze medallist Fred Kerley set his fifth 100m PB of the year, smashing through the 10-second barrier for the first time in his career to clock 9.91 (2.0m/s) at the TRUFit Sprint Classic in Miami on Saturday (24).

Kerley flies to world-leading 9.91 for 100m, Vetter throws 91.50m

Continuing her comeback in style, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn stormed to a 100m hurdles win in 12.32 (1.7m/s) to move to equal seventh on the world all-time list at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday (17).
Prior to her season opener one week before, Camacho-Quinn's last outdoor hurdles race had been in 2019 and the Rio 2016 Olympian had started questioning whether her future lay in competing over the barriers.
But her perseverance is paying off and in&nbsp;Gainesville&nbsp;the two-time NCAA champion took 0.08 off her own Puerto Rican record, which had been set in 2018, to make a statement in Olympic year.
Behind her, British sisters Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember both clocked 12.62, with Brittany Anderson finishing fourth in&nbsp;12.91.
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 In the men's 110m hurdles, USA's world 60m hurdles record-holder Grant Holloway &ndash; who clocked a wind-assisted 13.04 (2.2m/s) a week earlier &ndash; ran a world-leading 13.07 (1.3m/s) for a dominant win. Trey Cunningham was second in a PB of 13.28.
World 400m champion Steven Gardiner went quickest over one lap, clocking 44.71 in his first 400m race since his world title win in Doha in 2019, as Britain&rsquo;s Matthew Hudson-Smith was second in 45.53. Fastest in the women&rsquo;s events was Jessica Beard with a time of 51.00.
Javianne Oliver won the women&rsquo;s 100m from Olympic long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta &ndash; 11.12 to 11.16 (2.2m/s).
The men&rsquo;s 100m saw the quickest time come in the university race as&nbsp;Jo'Vaughn Martin improved his PB from&nbsp;10.40 to&nbsp;9.94 (1.6m/s) to equal the world lead. Justin Gatlin went quickest in the 'Olympic Development' races with 9.98 (1.4m/s) ahead of Andre De Grasse with 9.99, Kenny Bednarek with 10.03 and Noah Lyles with 10.08.
Just one week after clocking 10.72 for 100m, Sha'Carri Richardson continued her fine form to run 22.11 (1.0m/s) in her 200m season debut on the first day of Tom Jones Memorial Invitational action on Friday (16).
It is the 21-year-old&rsquo;s second quickest ever time for the distance behind her PB of 22.00 set in Florida last August and saw the world U20 record-holder win the heat by almost half a second ahead of Lynna Irby with 22.57.
World and Olympic medallist Blessing Okagbare was third in 22.66.
The time clocked by Richardson &ndash; who moved to sixth on the world all-time list with her 100m run the week before &ndash; is the second fastest in the world at this early point of the season behind Shaunae Miller-Uibo&rsquo;s 22.03 from earlier this month.
World 400m bronze medallist Fred Kerley went quickest in the men&rsquo;s 200m heats, equalling his PB with 20.24 (0.9m/s) ahead of Jereem Richards with 20.30. Erriyon Knighton won another heat in 20.39 (0.5m/s).
<h3>McLaughlin runs 100m hurdles PB</h3>
World 400m hurdles silver medallist Sydney McLaughlin improved her 100m hurdles PB to 12.92 (0.2m/s) at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California, on Friday (16).
With that result, the 21-year-old becomes the first woman to break 13.00 for the 100m hurdles, 23.00 for 200m and 53.00 for the 400m hurdles.
She was back in action just 40 minutes later and ran 51.16 in the 400m heats.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
New wind legal 12.92 100mH PR for Sydney McLaughlin (<a href="https://twitter.com/GoSydGo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GoSydGo</a>) in the Bryan Clay prelims. 👏 📺: <a href="https://t.co/sw9nzYxLdh">https://t.co/sw9nzYxLdh</a> <a href="https://t.co/U24UF9QdSr">pic.twitter.com/U24UF9QdSr</a>
&mdash; FloTrack (@FloTrack) <a href="https://twitter.com/FloTrack/status/1383189348674199554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2021</a></blockquote>
 The 2016 world U20 champion Candace Hill was quickest in the 100m heats with 11.13 (0.5m/s) &ndash; her fastest time since that world under-20 win.
Brazil&rsquo;s Paulo Andre Camilo ran a wind-assisted 10.05 (2.4m/s) in the men&rsquo;s heats as Ameer Webb opened his season by winning the first heat in 10.09 (0.8m/s). An hour later Webb ran a wind-assisted 20.52 (2.2m/s) for 200m.
Malaina Payton followed up her recent 6.81m PB with 6.74m (1.7m/s) to win the long jump.
<h3>Simbine wins in&nbsp;Pretoria</h3>
African and Commonwealth champion Akani Simbine clocked 9.99 (0.2m/s) to win the South African 100m title in Pretoria on Friday (16). The day before, the national record-holder with 9.89 had run a wind-assisted 9.82 (2.8m/s) in the semifinals.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/607ab806b66908129f0303f9.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="689" /> Akani Simbine wins the South African 100m title&nbsp;(&copy;&nbsp;Reg Caldecott/Tuks Sports)
 Gift Leotlela was second in the final, running 10.16, and Thembo Monareng was third in 10.33.
&ldquo;I'm glad to run another sub-10 and the key is to stay healthy,&rdquo; said Simbine. &ldquo;It's another big year and I'm sticking to the main goal, which is the Tokyo Olympics.&rdquo;
Reabetswe Moloi won the women&rsquo;s title, equalling her PB set in the heats with 11.55 (-0.5m/s).
Tiaan Kleynhans won the men's 110m hurdles final in 13.62, with African record-holder Antonio Alkana finishing fourth in 14.02 after hitting a hurdle. The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles title was claimed by Marjone Fourie in 13.54.
On Saturday (17), Olympic 400m champion and world record-holder Wayde van Niekerk returned after winning his 200m semifinal in 20.38 (-1.4m/s) to match that time to win the final (+0.1m/s), easing up on his approach to the finish line.
"Tonight was just about getting the win and feeling what it's like to win again at championship level," he said. "Now I can use this momentum going forward. Training is going well and I'm feeling confident in myself."
The 2017 world bronze medallist&nbsp;Ruswahl Samaai leapt&nbsp;8.16m (1.1m/s) to win the long jump.
Wenda Nel and&nbsp;Le Roux&nbsp;Hamman claimed the 400m hurdles titles, clocking respective times of 55.60 and 49.70.
Kyle Blignaut threw 20.82m to win the shot put ahead of Jason Van Rooyen with a 20.60m throw.
<h3>Broadbell blasts to hurdles PB</h3>
Jamaica&rsquo;s Rasheed Broadbell improved his 110m hurdles PB from 13.47 to 13.15 (-0.6m/s) at the Velocity Fest #9 meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday (17).
The 20-year-old, who had run 13.71 at the #8 meeting in March, finished clear ahead of Commonwealth champion Ronald Levy with 13.43.
Britain&rsquo;s European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes went quickest in the 200m races, running 20.14 for his fastest time on a standard track since 2015.
The women&rsquo;s 200m was won by Jamaica&rsquo;s multiple global gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 22.66 (-0.2m/s) ahead of Stephenie Ann McPherson with 22.90.
Racing the distance for the first time this year, Jamaica&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah won the women&rsquo;s 100m in 11.21&nbsp; (0.0m/s). Running into a -2.0m/s headwind, Nigel Ellis went quickest in the men&rsquo;s 100m with 10.39 as Asafa Powell won another of the heats in 10.48&nbsp;(-2.5m/s).
Jamaica&rsquo;s 2015 world medallist O'Dayne Richards won the shot put with a throw of 19.15m.
<h3>Mboma improves world U20 record&nbsp;</h3>
Less than a week after her 49.24 to break the world under-20 400m record* in Lusaka, Zambia, 17-year-old Christine Mboma went faster still with 49.22 at the Namibian Championships.
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/607b1ea0ad158e26a444df5d.jpg" alt="" width="950" height="463" /> Christine Mboma celebrates her 49.22 400m at the Namibian Championships (&copy; Bradley Agnew/Newton Agency)
 Mboma now has the two fastest times in the world clocked so far this season, with her 49.24 on 11 April having improved the long-standing under-20 record of 49.42 set by Grit Breuer at the 1991 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Beatrice Masilingi, who clocked 49.53 behind Mboma in Lusaka, this time ran 50.05 to finish second.
<h3>Mu runs&nbsp;1:57.73&nbsp;800m&nbsp;</h3>
After running a world U20 indoor 800m record* of 1:58.40 in February, Athing Mu improved her time outdoors to a world-leading 1:57.73&nbsp;to better the North American U20 record time at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas, on Saturday (17).
Racing the distance outdoors for the first time since 2019, the 18-year-old improved on her previous best of 2:01.17 clocked that year in Des Moines. The North American under-20 record of 1:57.74 was set by Sahily Diago Mesa in 2014, while the previous US collegiate record had been Raevyn Rogers&rsquo; 1:59.10 set in 2017.
Aaliyah Miller finished second in 2:00.87.
Gabrielle Thomas went quickest in the women&rsquo;s 100m with 11.21 (1.5m/s) ahead of Morolake Akinosun with 11.23, while Emmanuel Matadi ran 10.12 (1.4m/s) to lead the men&rsquo;s results.
*subject to the usual ratification procedures
<h3>Hobbs and Brisco go sub-11</h3>
There were two sub-11 second performances in the women's 100m at the&nbsp;LSU Boots Garland Invitational in&nbsp;Baton Rouge on Saturday (17), with Aleia Hobbs and&nbsp;Mikiah Brisco clocking 10.88 and 10.95 respectively, aided by a 2.4m/s tailwind.
Terrance Laird went quickest in the men's races with 10.06 (1.7m/s).
Favour Ofili with a wind-assisted 22.30 (2.6m/s) and Noah Williams with 20.36 (1.6m/s) were fastest in the 200m events.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Continuing her comeback in style, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn stormed to a 100m hurdles win in 12.32 (1.7m/s) to move to equal seventh on the world all-time list at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday (17).

Camacho-Quinn runs 12.32 100m hurdles, Richardson and McLaughlin also impress

Sergey Bubka has so dominated the pole vault that there should be separate category: non-Bubka world outdoor record-holder. Sam Kendricks now owns that distinction.
Kendricks vaulted 6.06m Saturday (27) to cap a riveting session of the USA Championships at Des Moines, Iowa.
Kendricks, as defending world champion, was already assured of going to the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. The 26-year-old secured a sixth straight USA title with a clean sheet through 5.81m, then made 5.86m and 5.91m on first attempts.
He had the bar raised to 6.06m and nearly made it on his first attempt. He brushed the bar on his second, but it stayed on, and Kendricks became No.2 on the all-time list outdoors. It was the highest outdoor vault in the world since Bubka cleared 6.14m on 31 July 1994.
Indoors, only Renaud Lavillenie (6.16m), Bubka (6.15m) and Steven Hooker (6.06m) have soared as high or higher.
Vaulters on the infield watching Kendricks rushed to the pit and swarmed over him in collective celebration.
Brad Walker had been No.1 on the US all-time list with 6.04m from 2008. But in an oddity of rules, Mondo Duplantis, who has dual citizenship, owned the US record of 6.05m even though he represents Sweden.
&ldquo;He grew up in Louisiana, and I don&rsquo;t fault him for jumping in a Swedish uniform,&rdquo; Kendricks said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the way the rule was, and USA Track &amp; Field said they are going to stand by what happened, but we&rsquo;re going to change the rule. He might not be able to set it in the future, but that&rsquo;s with the nature of our sport.
&ldquo;And I wanted to jump 6.06m anyways.&rdquo;
Bubka jumped 6.06m or higher outdoors nine times in his career.
Behind Kendricks, two 19-year-olds made the world team: KC Lightfoot in third (5.76m) and Zach Bradford in fourth (5.71m). Cole Walsh was second at 5.76m. Left behind was 21-year-old Chris Nilsen, a 5.95m vaulter who tied for seventh at 5.46m.
<h3>Price breaks area record in hammer</h3>
Elsewhere, Deanna Price set a North American record in the hammer, Fred Kerley shocked Michael Norman in the 400m, and Allyson Felix put herself in position to make the World Championships team just eight months after childbirth.
For the second year in a row, Price broke the North American record in Des Moines, raising it to 78.24m. Her previous record was 78.12m, and she had held the world lead at 77.43m. She remains fourth on the world all-time list. 
<div id="5d3d68aee446e705a88f05e9" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/08801f4c-8956-4562-a2c9-e3f86fe29121.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
DeAnna Price in action in the hammer at the US Championships</div>
&nbsp;
Price will go to Doha as the gold-medal favorite despite a succession of recent injuries.
&ldquo;My right upper body was going forward, and it also affected my hip flexor and right leg,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There were times I couldn&rsquo;t walk. My physical therapist was holding me together with duct tape and wires.&rdquo;
Quality was such that four women exceeded 75 metres, including fourth-place Maggie Ewen with a PB of 75.04m. Gwen Berry was second at 76.46m and Brooke Anderson third at 75.30m. The only other hammer competition with four women beyond 75 metres was the 2012 Olympic final.
&ldquo;America is sending the best three hammer throwers in the world to Doha to compete for our first medal,&rdquo; Berry said. &ldquo;I think we will get more than one.&rdquo;
<h3>Kerley upsets Norman at 400m</h3>
After the men&rsquo;s 400m, Kerley asserted &ldquo;anything can happen&rdquo; in athletics, and he proved it. 
<div id="5d3d3c6ceaef1e0fcc57cf23" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/cd1ca3c5-0efd-4345-8f4d-87344e2023c4.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Fred Kerley takes the US 400m title in Des Moines</div>
&nbsp;
Despite winds influencing times in other races, his 43.64 lowered his previous PB of 43.70 from 2017 and made him seventh on the world all-time list. Norman, No.5 all time at 43.45, finished second to Kerley in 43.79.
Nathan Strother was third in 44.29 and Vernon Norwood fourth in 44.40.
In the women&rsquo;s 400m, Shakima Wimbley repeated as champion in 50.21. Felix, 33, was sixth in 51.94 but could be added to the world team for the women&rsquo;s or mixed 4x400m relays.
&ldquo;I think it would be crazy for me to say that I&rsquo;m disappointed,&rdquo; Felix said. &ldquo;I have my health, I have my family. I couldn&rsquo;t ask for more than that. And I am able to still do what I love.&rdquo;
<h3>Reese wins again</h3>
Brittney Reese won her eighth national title in the long jump with a distance of 7.00m. Tori Bowie, defending world 100m champion, was fourth at 6.78m but will be in Doha in her specialty.
World record-holder Kendra Harrison won the 100m hurdles in 12.44 (-1.2m/s). Nia Ali and Briana McNeal, silver and gold medallists from the 2016 Olympics, were second and third in 12.55 and 12.61.
Shelby Houlihan repeated in the 1500m in 4:03.18. Jenny Simpson, second in 4:03.41, extended her streak by making every world or Olympic team since 2007. Five women bettered 4:04.
Other winners were Stanford and Rome Diamond League winner Rai Benjamin, 47.23 in the 400m hurdles, his second fastest of the season; Vashti Cunningham, 1.96m in the high jump; Hilary Bor, 8:18.05 in the steeplechase, and Michael Shuey, 82.85m in the javelin (one centimetre ahead of Riley Dolezal).
Noah Lyles and 100m winner Christian Coleman easily advanced in the first round of the 200m, setting up a Sunday meeting and possible World Championships preview. Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad (54.22) and world leader Sydney McLaughlin (54.24) led the qualifiers in the 400m hurdles.
Roy Jordan for the IAAF

Sam Kendricks vaulted 6.06m on Saturday (27) to cap a riveting session of the USA Championships at Des Moines, Iowa.

Kendricks tops 6.06m in Des Moines

When athletes reflect on 2018, offering up an end-of-season judgement on their performances, what they don&rsquo;t say can often be as important as what they do.
So when Fred Kerley casts his mind back over a season in which he became IAAF Diamond League champion over 400m and says, with a blase attitude, &ldquo;it was a good year,&rdquo; it&rsquo;s easy to spot what he didn&rsquo;t call it: great.
That&rsquo;s because in recent years, the 23-year-old US sprinter has set his own threshold for excellence, one he intends to surpass next year.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m learning new stuff all the time,&rdquo; he says, &ldquo;and I can&rsquo;t wait to take it to 2019.&rdquo;
After a collegiate career of breath-taking brilliance, much was expected of Kerley in his first season as a professional, and he delivered.
But that&rsquo;s not to say he&rsquo;s satisfied. After all, everything he&rsquo;s done for the past year and a half has had the misfortune to be compared to what he did at the NCAA West Preliminary meeting in Austin, Texas, in May 2017.
It was there that Kerley made his name reverberate around the world, his NCAA record of 43.70 moving him to seventh on the all-time 400m list just weeks after his 22nd birthday (Michael Norman&rsquo;s 43.61 this year has since pushed him down to eighth).
On his biography on the Pace Sports Management website, Kerley has a pinned quote: &ldquo;Just here to make a lil history.&rdquo;
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JyUvoJpXfak" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
So far, so good on that front for an athlete who, despite his achievements, still has enormous scope for improvement.
A native of Taylor, a small town in Texas, Kerley grew up showing more interest in American football and basketball than athletics, but in his senior year of high school fate dealt him a hand that steered him towards sprinting.
&ldquo;I broke my collarbone playing football, it was the last playoffs game, so that took me out of that and basketball,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;But I was in shape that senior season.&rdquo;
He utilised his fitness to good effect and lowered his 400m PB to 46.48 at the age of 18, then weeks later took it down to 46.38.
Kerley went on to spend two years at South Plains College before transferring to Texas A&amp;M, where in 2016, under the guidance of coach Alleyne Francique, he put a period of injury behind him to lower his PB to 45.10.
In 2017 he enjoyed his breakout year, winning the NCAA title in 44.10 and going on to reach the 400m final at the IAAF World Championships in London, finishing seventh in 45.23.
After turning professional Kerley moved his training base to Phoenix, Arizona, where he trains at the Altis base under the guidance of coach Kevin Tyler. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s lovely there,&rdquo; says Kerley. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been there for one year now and I&rsquo;m learning all the time.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<div id="5b7856839ef6350ea41c24f0" class="dropMedia">
<div style="background-image: url('https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Small/b5cc4b36-4a53-42e3-aee6-b1efd144ea54.jpg');">&nbsp;</div>
Birmingham 400m winner Fred Kerley</div>
&nbsp;
But 2018 wasn&rsquo;t all smooth sailing. At the US Indoor Championships in February a race filled with tactical imprecision saw him fade to third in 45.63, meaning he missed out on an individual spot at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
Outdoors, he made amends, taking Diamond League victories in Rome, Birmingham and at the final in Zurich.
But most of all, Kerley learned the ways of this new world, traversing from city to city, hotel to hotel, stadium to stadium, on the circuit.
&ldquo;By now I know the ins and outs,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t learn, you would never get better and now I know what I&rsquo;m capable of doing for the 2019 season.&rdquo;
He may have no major plans indoors this season, but his sights are trained firmly on the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019. At the recent Athletics Awards in Monaco, Kerley had the chance to take a virtual reality tour of the Khalifa International Stadium and when the image turned towards the medal rostrum, he remarked: &ldquo;that&rsquo;s where I&rsquo;ll be &ndash; top step.&rdquo;
To achieve that, he knows a step up will be needed, particularly with the likely return from injury of world record holder Wayde van Niekerk, but knowing what he now knows, Kerley is not willing to settle for anything less than the best.
&ldquo;I want to be on the podium, have the gold medal around my neck and just enjoy life,&rdquo; he says.
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

When athletes reflect on 2018, offering up an end-of-season judgement on their performances, what they don’t say can often be as important as what they do.

After solid 2018 campaign, Kerley ready to take the next step as Doha approaches

Qatar&rsquo;s Abderrahman Samba produced a superbly judged performance in the 400m hurdles to highlight the action on the track at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome, the fourth leg of the 2018 IAAF Diamond League, on Thursday (31).
Samba overtook world champion Karsten Warholm over the final flight of barriers before winning in a Diamond League and Asian record of 47.48. It was also a meeting record.
Warholm&rsquo;s bold effort earned him his first sub-48 race as he took 0.40 off his Norwegian record, clocking 47.82.
In what was his season&rsquo;s debut the Norwegian, running in lane seven, stuck to his classic race model of charging out fast to try and break the field.
As he arrived in the final straight it seemed as if he might have managed it, but the taller figure of Samba &ndash; born in the northwest African state of Mauritania &ndash; came through smoothly in lane four, surpassing the time of 47.57, clocked at the home Diamond League meeting Doha, with which he already topped the 2018 world lists.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big feeling for me to break not only my personal best, but also the Asian record, the national record and the Diamond League record,&rdquo; Samba said. &ldquo;I now hope every race will be like this.
&ldquo;I say thank you to my rivals for pushing me. I told Karsten thank-you especially. We are now giving the 400m hurdles the attention it deserves.&rdquo;
Warholm, who had concluded his indoor season in February by breaking the world outdoor 300m hurdles best in Tampere, looked understandably shattered at the end following this defeat by a fellow 22-year-old &ndash; but it was another huge stride forwards for him.
<h3>Baker takes 100m showdown</h3>
Home idol Filippo Tortu produced a performance to make a 30,000 Rome crowd proud in the Olympic stadium as he took third place in a 100m race won by Ronnie Baker of the United States in a legal personal best of 9.93 &ndash; the fastest this season outside performances with an excessive following wind.
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Ronnie Baker takes the Rome 100m showdown</div>
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Realistically, the Italian supporters had been hoping their 19-year-old rising star - who had lowered his 100m best to 10.03 the previous week - could beat the 39-year-old national record of 10.01 set in the thin air of Mexico by the sprinter after whom this annual Golden Gala meeting is named, Pietro Mennea.
Tortu&rsquo;s powerful finish, as he passed world silver medallist and 60m world indoor record holder Christian Coleman in the final strides, raised home hopes &ndash; but a sigh went out when the name of France&rsquo;s Jimmy Vicaut came up on the scoreboard with a time of 10.02, with the taller Italian&rsquo;s name soon arriving below with a time of 10.04.
&ldquo;I am really satisfied,&rdquo; said Tortu, who was among a group of athletes who had an audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Wednesday. &ldquo;I will only be able to tell you when I can run sub 10 at the moment I achieve it! Meeting the Pope this week was an experience that was more important than any race.&rdquo;
Coleman, fifth in 10.06, appeared to be slowing slightly at the line and grimacing as if all was not well. South Africa&rsquo;s Commonwealth champion Akine Simbine finished one place behind in 10.13.
For Baker, who beat Coleman in last Saturday&rsquo;s race at the Eugene Diamond League meeting in a time of 9.78, with a following wind of 2.4mps, this was another significant marker in the struggle for sprint supremacy in the post-Bolt world.
&ldquo;Today was definitely a confidence booster,&rdquo; said Baker. &ldquo;To have two wins in two races under my belt is great but I know I have to keep working hard.&rdquo;
<h3>Kiyeng takes dramatic steeplechase triumph</h3>
The next race on the track &ndash; the women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase &ndash; was equally stirring as world champion Emma Coburn, who had led narrowly at the bell, stumbled and fell as she took the final water jump flanked by Kenyan rivals Celliphine Chespol and 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng.
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Emma Coburn (c) tumbles over the final water jump in Rome</div>
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Kiyeng proceeded to win in a meeting record and 2018 fastest time of 9:04.96, with the 19-year-old prodigy Chespol, who had had to chart a quick route around her fallen opponent, second in a season&rsquo;s best of 9:05.14.
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Hyvin Kiyeng takes a narrow victory in Rome</div>
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The gutsy American picked herself back up and drove on, but was passed by another Kenyan, Norah Jeruto, who was third in 9:07.17 with a shaken Coburn finishing fourth in 9:08.13 &ndash; both the latter times also being season&rsquo;s bests.
<h3>Another 800m win for quick-kicking Kinyamal</h3>
The men&rsquo;s 800m race was also a compelling one as Kenya&rsquo;s Jonathan Kitilit, a clear leader at 500m as the pacemaker Bram Som moved over after taking the field through 400m in 51.24, pushed on strongly with a strung-out field appearing to struggle in his wake.
However, his compatriot Wyclife Kinyamal was a keen and powerful hunter, and as the race moved into the final ten metres the 20-year-old Commonwealth champion had his prey, moving past to win in 1:44.65, with Kitilit having to settle for third in 144.78 as a third Kenyan, Ferguson Rotich, came through in 1:44.74.
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Another Diamond League victory for Wyclife Kinyamal, this time in Rome</div>
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It was almost an exact replica of the finish that had played out earlier this month in the Shanghai Diamond League, when Kinyamal had come through in the final 20m to win by 0.04sec before declaring memorably: &ldquo;We were fighting for the last 100 metres, but I was stronger and I knew it. I come from the same village as Rudisha, he was always my example. Now I take over.&rdquo;
Kinyamal is certainly ticking all the boxes right now&hellip;
<h3>Cheruiyot&rsquo;s 1500m momentum continues</h3>
The men&rsquo;s 1500m saw Kenya&rsquo;s world silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot, winner of the Shanghai Diamond League 1500m and the Bowerman Mile at the Eugene Diamond League, maintain bragging rights as he won in 3:31.22, the fastest of the season so far.
The 22-year-old&nbsp;Cheruiyot finished well clear of his training partner Elijah Manangoi, who took gold to his silver in London last summer and finished here in a season&rsquo;s best of 3:33.79.
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Timothy Cheruiyot in Rome, celebrating another metric mile victory</div>
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Ethiopia&rsquo;s world indoor champion Samuel Tefara took third place in 3:34.84.
Kenya&rsquo;s world and Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Conseslus Kipruto, surprisingly beaten by compatriot Benjamin Kigen at the Eugene Diamond League last Saturday, made sure it didn&rsquo;t happen again in what was a non-Diamond League race, although it was a close run thing.
Kipruto pulled clear on the final lap to win in 8min 04.40sec, the fastest run so far this year, but Kigen maintained his rising reputation as he took second place in 8:10.01 despite a stumble at the last hurdle after which he looked briefly behind him before resuming his forward momentum.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Chala Beyo was third in a personal best of 8:11.22.
<h3>Kerley takes first Diamond League victory</h3>
Fred Kerley of the United States held on to win the men&rsquo;s 400m in a season&rsquo;s best of 44.33 as he resisted a late charge in his inside lane from Qatar&rsquo;s Adalleleh Haroun, who made up five metres in the final stages but finished a stride behind in a season&rsquo;s best of 44.37,with third place going to Kerley&rsquo;s compatriot Paul Dedewo in a personal best of 44.58.
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Fred Kerley nabs his first career Diamond League victory in Rome</div>
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Sharika Nelvis of the United States, complete with mauve lipstick, earned victory in the women&rsquo;s hurdles in 12.76 ahead of Jamaica&rsquo;s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams, who clocked 12.82, and Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, who recorded 12.86.
Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the world 100 and 200m silver medallist, was a convincing and expected winner in the longer distance as she got out fast and held a clear lead before finishing in a season&rsquo;s best of 22.49.
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Sharika Nelvis en route to her Rome 100m hurdles victory</div>
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The Ivorian sprinter is thus getting into convincing winning mode this season, having defeated the Olympic, world and world indoor champions over 100m at the Eugene Diamond League race last Saturday.
Bulgaria&rsquo;s experienced Ivet Lalova-Collio came through for second place in lane eight, clocking 22.64, as Switzerland&rsquo;s Mujinga Kambundji took third in 22.76.
Georganne Moline of the United States won the women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles &ndash; not scoring for the Diamond League on the night &ndash; in a season&rsquo;s best of 53.97 from Jamaica&rsquo;s Janieve Russell, who clocked 54.08, with Moline&rsquo;s compatriot, the Rio 2016 champion Dalilah Muhammad third in 54.65.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF

Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba produced a superbly judged performance in the 400m hurdles to highlight the action on the track at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome, the fourth leg of the 2018 IAAF Diamond League, on Thursday (31).

Samba sizzles 47.48 Asian record in Rome - IAAF Diamond League

During a breakout 2017 season, emerging 400m star Fred Kerley ran a blistering 43.70 to climb to seventh on the all-time lists and also snared the US one-lap title. We find out more about the exciting 22-year-old as he draws upon a hugely influential moment from his personal life and a serious injury which derailed his athletics career for a couple of seasons.
&nbsp;
<h3>High</h3>
&ldquo;The high moment for me was when I was adopted by my auntie as a toddler. At the time my mum and dad were in some trouble and at one stage it looked like my four other siblings and I were going to be split up. But my auntie, Virginia, took us on, even though she already had kids of her own and she took care of four or five other kids. Growing up we were 13 kids living in the same house.
&ldquo;My auntie was a huge influence on my life and continually pushed us to be the best that I could. She motivated all of us to complete a college degree and taught us never to be discouraged. She was always such a caring person. She sacrificed so much and sometimes even went without food to make sure we always ate.
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Fred Kerley at the 2017 World Championships</div>
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&ldquo;Her decision to adopt my siblings and me was the most important moment of my life and without her I wouldn&rsquo;t be where I am today. Even today I speak with her every day.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h3>Low</h3>
&ldquo;My low moment came during my sophomore year at junior college. I had been running well in the early spring and I was confident I could run a 44-second 400m after recording a 45.0 split in the 4x400m leg at Texas Relays. Then the day after, while running the anchor leg of the 4x100m, I felt a pain my leg after about 60m of sprinting. I carried on before falling over the finish line when I realised I&rsquo;d tore my quad. I had a hole in my leg and I could put my finger in the hole.
&ldquo;I was a difficult period for me. I hardly competed again in 2015 and even in my junior year I still felt I was not running he kind of times I knew I was capable of.
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Fred Kerley winning the 2017 US 400m title</div>
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&ldquo;I was fortunate to have a very supportive team around me during this difficult period. They kept me motivated and after taking on a regime of eating the right foods, drinking water and getting plenty of rest I came out in 2017 and enjoyed an amazing season. In the end, my problems of 2015 and 2016 proved a blessing.&rdquo;
Steve Landells for the IAAF

During a breakout 2017 season, emerging 400m star Fred Kerley ran a blistering 43.70 to climb to seventh on the all-time lists and also snared the US one-lap title. We find out more about the exciting 22-year-old as he draws upon a hugely influential moment from his personal life and a serious injury which derailed his athletics career for a couple of seasons.