Who is the face of track and field sports? The question may make a lot of fans come together, revealing the name to be Noah Lyles. But would he be able to continue with the tag? If not, then who will be the next face? Two months ago, this question took a round at the Paris Olympics. In fact, after the men’s 200m final, someone hurled the same question at Letsile Tebogo in the press conference, but with a twist. The media asked him if he aspired to be the same. The timing had been critical, especially after Tebogo defeated Lyles in his signature event. But the Motswana athlete laid out a cryptic answer. 

In his statement, the 21-year-old shared, “I think, for me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or a loud person like Noah (Lyles). So, I believe Noah is the face of athletics.” But did the debate end with those lines? No. Instead, an American veteran has recently voted for one of his successors to take that crown in the coming days. Surprisingly, Lyles has failed to cut into the consideration. 

Noah Lyles takes the backseat while his colleague comes forward 

In the latest episode of Ready Set Go podcast, Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green spared a moment to paint the upcoming setup of track and field sports next season. In that discussion, Gatlin flaunted his hope that Fred Kerley would become the face of track and field sports in the next season. Feeling satisfied with his overall personality this season, the former Olympic champion even claimed, “Fred’s a dog.” However, being the ‘dog’ does not tick all the boxes required to become the face of athletics. Isn’t it? No one knows this better than Justin Gatlin. 

In his peak years, Gatlin had to compete against names like Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, and Tyson Gay. Among these talents, Bolt rose to become the face of track and field sports because of his amazing ability to overcome any challenge. Per Gatlin, Fred Kerley would win the challenges riding on his exceptional mindset. A hard thing to imagine? Gatlin painted the picture. He eventually conceded, “Fred gonna come with… be saying, you know what I’m gonna run the 400 this year and go out there, be on the top 400 meter.” The four-time world champion also spilled the reason for thinking of Kerley so highly. He praised the Olympic medalist’s ability to cope with the things, despite lacking practice or any other supporting factors. 

According to Justin Gatlin, Noah Lyles might invest his time in claiming back to his kingdom in the 200m event next season. But Fred Kerley might come out as the all-event sprinter. However, this is not the first time the 42-year-old has gone full support for Fred. 

Fred Kerley is the new ‘boogeyman’ in athletics 

In the initial days of this season, Fred Kerley did not start as the champion. Rather, for a large chunk of time, he had to come under the scanner for his actions on and off the tracks. He was nowhere near his personal best timing in the 100m event. He even failed to place first on the list of contests he entered as part of his preparation for the Paris Olympics. Now, add his fiasco with his sponsor ASICS because of his spikes. As a result, the shoe brand put red ink on the contract paper. Those issues were bound to rattle any sprinter on any day, let alone the Olympic season. 

But Fred Kerley rose like the Phoenix from the ashes. In the Paris Olympics, he snagged the bronze medal, defeating a stacked field in the men’s 100m final. Yet he appeared on the sidelines of the Diamond League, helping out Mondo Duplantis in fixing his blocks before facing Karsten Warholm in the 100m event. Wasn’t it a wholesome appearance? According to Justin Gatlin, it was. Revealing his emotions over the former world champion, the veteran said, “You the killer boogeyman, whatever you want to call him, man, hey, good dude, man, really good dude man.” Now, this time, Gatlin has gone one step ahead, calling him the upcoming face of track and field sports. This might make the fans hoping to see Fred Kerley in a new shape in the coming days.