Every champion has a turning point—a moment when things don’t go as planned, and the silence that follows is louder than the cheers. For Fred Kerley, that moment came in 2023. So, what happened? Two years ago, Kerley entered the World Athletics Championships in Budapest as the reigning world champion in the 100m. Everyone thought he would ram through the competition as he had done at the previous event to win his title. But what transpired next was something no one, including himself, was prepared for. So what was it?
Well, it all started when Fred Kerley stepped onto the track for the 100m semi-finals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Lined up in the third semi-final heat, Kerley faced stiff competition from Jamaica’s Oblique Seville and Botswana’s rising star Letsile Tebogo, and of course, Noah Lyles. At the gun, Seville rocketed out with an explosive start and held his form to win the heat in 9.90 seconds.
Now, Tebogo followed closely behind in 9.98 to grab the second automatic qualifying spot. Kerley, meanwhile, didn’t quite hit top gear. He finished third in 10.02 seconds—just one hundredth of a second shy of advancing. The top two automatic qualifying spots in his heat were secured by Jamaica’s Oblique Seville and Letsile Tebogo. That narrow miss ended Kerley’s title defense before the final event began.
But now, two years later, Kerley is finally opening up about what went wrong. In a recent appearance on The Pivot Podcast, he revealed the costly misjudgment that haunted him from that race—and the mindset shift that came after. Looking back on that brutal exit from the 2023 World Championships, Fred Kerley isn’t sugarcoating anything. During a recent appearance, the former world champion got real about what went wrong in Budapest.
“So, in 2023, not judging the line, not judging the people around me, cost me not making it to the final,” he admitted. After that heartbreak, Kerley knew something had to change. “I switched coaches, came back to the drawing board, and told my new coach, ‘’23 is not happening again.’” For Kerley, the semi-final wasn’t just another round—it was the final. “You can’t misjudge the semi-final, ’cause that is the final.”
He went on to break down how it all slipped away. “If you go watch my 2023 race, I think it was easy. But that’s when somebody just came and passed me,” he said. Instead of charging all-out, he eased up too soon—and paid the price. “You actually gotta run all-out in a semi-final to make the final. So I said, that can’t happen again,” he added. In a race that tight, he explained, even a guy with “no contract or no care in the world” can come out of nowhere and snatch your spot.
That misjudgment—thinking his 10.02 would be enough—was a painful lesson. “I just misjudged my time to get to the final,” he said, and just like that, the defending champ was out. But one thing’s for sure: Fred Kerley won’t make that mistake twice. And yes, he didn’t.
When the world counted him out, Fred Kerley showed up
Fred Kerley wasn’t about to let 2023 define him. After that heartbreaking semifinal exit in Budapest, he went all in on a reset. The training? More intense than ever. In the offseason, he pushed his limits with grueling workouts that blended power, speed, and endurance—no shortcuts, no excuses. And the results showed early. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in February 2024, he clocked a personal best of 6.55 in the 60 meters.
This proved he was sharper, faster, and locked in for redemption. But the road back wasn’t smooth sailing. In the middle of the season, a messy fallout with his sponsor, ASICS, sparked by a controversial 100m race at the NYC Grand Prix, left him running unsponsored. Still, Kerley stayed locked in. At the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, his determination resulted in winning a bronze medal.
This was after running the 100-meter event in 9.81 seconds, which became his season-best time. The medal he won became more than just a trophy because of its significance. The runner who failed to win in 2023 achieved a powerful, triumphant return with improved speed and dedication. Fred Kerley didn’t just bounce back—he made sure the world knew he was still one of the best to ever do it.
The post Saddened Over Major Blunder, Fred Kerley Opens Up About Track and Field Career’s Costly Miss: ‘Can’t Happen Again’ appeared first on EssentiallySports.
