Noah Lyles’ Arch Nemesis Fred Kerley Opens the Paris Olympics Season With a Bang

Since the opening of the Paris Olympics season, Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley were absent from the spree of outdoor events. In February this year, the American track and field duo locked horns in the New Balance Indoors. But after that, only their hurled words towards each other displayed their rivalry. After Noah Lyles’s Glasgow Indoors fiasco, the situation went down pretty south, keeping Fred Kerley’s entry into the national lineup at bay. However, that matter in the Paris Olympics season surely sent tremors to Fred.

So, before the reigning world champion makes his entry to outdoor track and field contests, Fred Kerley has attempted his turn. After a 5-month break from outdoor sprinting, the 3x world champion appeared in the Hurricane Invitational in Florida on Saturday. The result wasn’t meek either. 

Fred Kerley accepts Noah Lyles’s challenge emphatically 

Upon returning to the 100m challenge, Kerley, the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, took 10.03 seconds to achieve the first position. The wind speed of 1.9m/s couldn’t create much hassle, as the officials later declared the timing legal. Meanwhile, taking a thorough narration of the result, the X-handle Track Spice updated the timings in a post later. The caption read, “Fred Kerley opened his season today with 10.03s in the 100m at the Hurricane Invitational, Coral Gables, FL”. 

However, in his last attempt at the 100m outdoor event, Fred Kerley finished the race in 9.96 seconds. In that Diamond League event in September 2023, the 28-year-old sprinter achieved the bronze medal. But after that, a lot happened in the American track and field sphere. Despite a colossal performance in the World Athletics Outdoor Championship, he wasn’t in consideration for the Glasgow World Indoors. 

Meanwhile, Noah Lyles had his day in Glasgow, winning a silver in the 60m event and finding a place in the final 4x400m relay event. Even when asked about the selection process, the 26-year-old pointed towards his performance to give him a place over Fred Kerley. Now, after the latter, Noah Lyles would have a turn to display his outdoor sparkling. 

A bigger goal is the bull’s eye 

Previously, Noah Lyles described his aim to go for the quadruple in the Paris Olympics. But among those four events, the 200m event turned out to be his favorite. Eventually, he is after Usain Bolt’s world record of 19.19. The 6x world champion himself revealed the reason a few days ago.

Read more: After Noah Lyles Call Out, Fred Kerley Drops a Fresh Warning in Track Style

“The 100, I’ve still been learning, but the 200 is my favorite event, and it’s the time I’ve put the most into. So, when I look at it, I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s the world record I want to be mine first,” he said. 

As of now, Noah is in the third position in the 200m all-time list with 19.31 timing. But despite brother Josephus unfolding his outdoor season this week, Noah Lyles has yet to appear. So, his supporters might have to wait a few longer to see the things from the threepeater. 

Also read: Not Just Noah Lyles, But Yet Another World Champion Eyes 4-Medal Haul in Paris