“9.87 Say No More.” “Say no more.” These phrases echoed around Fred Kerley’s comeback at the Franson Last Chance Meet in May 2025. After facing off-track challenges—including a recent arrest and sponsorship drama—many doubted if he could perform at his best. But Kerley answered on the track, running 9.95 seconds in the prelims and a blistering 9.87 seconds in the semifinals, the fastest qualifier. In the final, he sealed victory with a wind-legal 9.98 seconds. As much as it surprised the audience, the performance even prompted a track and field legend to weigh in with powerful words about Kerley’s resilience!
This week, Justin Gatlin sat down on the Ready Set Go Podcast and reflected on Fred Kerley’s recent resurgence. Gatlin said: “Listen, Ato Boldon says something that made so much sense. It was a fact of when you look at Fred, and I agree, when you look at Fred, there’s a lot of people in the world that they operate on adversity. They need some kind of turmoil or drama in their life or to prove people wrong. And that gives them kind of fire to go out and do.” Gatlin said.
Gatlin took the 400m into context, citing that people used to say, “oh, he won’t fit the bill,” but he did. He further cited people’s doubts about his 100m. Matter of fact, if we only take the Diamond League into context, Kerley has been the 400m Champion in 2018 and the 100m Champion in 2021. “Goes out there and wins the world championship, runs faster than any athlete that is competing right now. Right? He’s, he has a more superior time than any athlete that’s competing right now PR-wise, right?” Gatlin said.
“So he stepped up to the plate, he handled that. So he goes on to be the only male to podium for the 2020 Olympics.” Kerley (personal best of 9.76 in 100m) won silver in the 100m, becoming the only American male sprinter to podium in the individual sprint events at Tokyo 2020. Citing his challenges to the Olympics, like the one with sponsors, Gatlin said, “he’s a dangerous individual, a very dangerous individual. So don’t piss this man off, don’t give this man to give a reason to get the cops to get involved or anything at all, bro.”
The track and field legend continued, “Like what you’re doing right now, you’re not stopping a man like this from operating, all doing is dousing gasoline on a fire, and you’re going to make it bigger. If he’s able to step on the track through all this adversity and still run damn sure he gonna prove himself.” Gatlin is straight up taking a dig at individuals not to bring his adversity into it because it is only fueling his fire. After his Miami arrest, Fred Kerley dominated the Franson Last Chance Meet with a wind-legal 9.98s win in the 100m final, backed by blazing 9.87s and 9.95s in the semifinals and preliminaries.
Gatlin pointed out, “So Fred, bro, Fred is Fred, Fred is one of one for sure. As many as people I see, I’ve seen that in my career, who have gotten in trouble or had a, had a setback and then they never amounted to what they could have been.” An example of this can be Mark Richardson, a British 400m sprinter who was once among the few athletes to have beaten Michael Johnson over that distance. In 1999, Richardson tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone, leading to a two-year suspension. Although he was later reinstated under exceptional circumstances, he never regained his prior form and retired in 2003 due to an Achilles tendon injury.
Gatin also said, “When you think like, man, Fred ain’t gonna make it through this one dog. Oh, that’s crazy, man. Oh man, Fred got arrested again, man. Oh man, you know, prayers up to Fred, then next thing you know, he comes down and drops sub 10.” That is exactly what he did in Franson’s Last Dance, potentially coming back after a harsh season.
Fred Kerley has it rough in 2025
After winning the B2024 Brussels Diamond League, Kerley had said, “We weathered every storm 2024 threw our way and kept pushing forward. 2025, you’ve been warned. I’m bringing the fire.” He opened 2025 by sweeping 2 early‐season wins: he edged New Zealand’s Eddie Nketia to victory in 10.23 s at the USC Trojan Invitational, anchored Team USA Red to a 38.43 s win in the 4×100 m relay at the Texas Relays in Austin.
In the Grand Slam Track series, Kerley’s performances were a clear downturn. He finished seventh in the 100 m with a time of 10.30 s, far from his sub-10-second standards, and while he salvaged a third-place finish in the 200 m at 20.39s. Off the track, Kerley navigated two legal setbacks. In January 2025, he was arrested in Miami, charged with battery and resisting an officer, forcing him out of the Miami Slam leg of the Grand Slam Track series.
Then on May 1, he was arrested again in Dania Beach, Florida, on a touch-or-strike battery allegation, leading to his withdrawal from another Grand Slam event. After that, he gave three back-to-back sub-10s in the Franson last dance, so let us know, is this his comeback?
The post “Don’t Piss This Man Off”: U.S. Track and Field Legend Issues Warning as Fred Kerley Continues to Struggle This Season appeared first on EssentiallySports.
