Fred Kerley, Yared Nuguse and More Shift Gears for Paris Olympics After First Half of US Track and Field Trials

The Paris Olympics are just a few blinks away and there has been some major development in Track and Field side of things. After qualifying for sprinting, mid-distance and long-distance Olympic track trials, a few key names have withdrawn from further taking part in US Olympics men’s trials after the first half. Some of these names include Fred Kerley, Yared Nuguse, and a few others.

Chris Chavez announced specific details on X and there are 4 key athletes, that have scratched from 200m, 1500m, 5000m, and 10,000m trials. Apart from Kerley and Nuguse, athletes like Josette Andrews and Tylor Roe will also not be competing any further in the first half of the trials.

Chavez’s post on X said, “A few notable U.S. Olympic Trials entry updates:

• After making the U.S. Olympic team in the 100m, Fred Kerley scratches from the 200m.
• After making the U.S. Olympic team in the 1500m, Yared Nuguse has scratched from the 5000m.
• Josette Andrews scratches from the 1500m after finishing 11th in the 5000m final.
• Taylor Roe has scratched from the 10,000m after finishing 8th in the 5000m final. “

After Noah Lyles finished first in the men’s 100m at the 2024 US Olympics Team Trials sporting his personal best of 9.83 seconds, Kenny Bednarek (9.87 seconds) and Fred Kerley (9.88 seconds) followed in the footsteps and finished second and third respectively.

But while Lyles, Bednarek and Kerley found a spot in the US Olympics team, the 2019 world champion Christian Coleman fell short of making it to the team for the second time in a row, finishing at 9.93 seconds. Also, there’s one other athlete who withdrew from going any further into the trials after making the US Olympics team in the 1,500m category.

Lyles’ experience has been nothing short of “electric.” From getting into the blocks, to finishing the race at the first position, the fans’ cheers is what got Lyles motivated to excel in the trials. Describing his experience, the athlete noted, “It’s funny, as we were getting into the blocks, I swore I heard someone yell at the top of their lungs, ‘Let’s go Noah! Let’s go Fred! Let’s go Kenny!‘ Lyles said, laughing. “It was definitely electric. That’s what I love to see.”

Yared Nuguse, a graduate from DuPont Manual High School made it to 1,500m after he finished second in the event. He had a slow start but found himself leading the herd. However, everything changed during the final lap. Cole Hocker overtook Nuguse and finished the race first with a final time of 3:30:59, beating Nuguse’s season best time of 3:30:86.

Back in 2020, Nuguse made it to the Olympic team due to compete in Tokyo but was sidelined due to an injury before the games. Though the Olympics Silver Medalist has expressed time and again his desire to beat Usain Bolt’s 100m time of 9.58 seconds, the 3x World Champion doesn’t come close to beating Bolt, especially in 200m category.

Fred Kerley’s minimal footprint in 2024 200m category

Kerley hasn’t participated much in 200m races recently. Mainly because that’s not his forte. Although, having his name in the 200m might have been a backup plan if he didn’t qualify for 100m. He’s only participated in 200m once this year, where he finished second at Jamaica Athletics that took place in National Stadium, Kingston (JAM), with a season best time of 20.17 seconds.

According to World Athletics, the 29-year-old is 3 in Highest World Ranking Positions in 200m category and ranks 9 in Men’s 100 in current world ranking with a score of 1344. Back in June 2018, the Olympics silver medalist finished third (20.43) in 200m category at FBK Games, losing to Luxolo Adams, who finished first with a time of 20.34 seconds.

With a current overall world ranking of 155, Kerley still has a long way to go to make a mark in 200m category. The race for Augusts is on as Men’s 100m preliminary rounds are set to take place on August 3, 2024. Can Kerley beat Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednareck before taking on the Usain Bolt milestone?