Fred Kerley runs world’s fastest 100m of 2022; Allyson Felix ekes into U.S. final

Olympic silver medalist Fred Kerley ran the world’s fastest 100m this year and won the USATF Outdoor Championships, setting himself up as the favorite for the world championships in three weeks.

In a span of two hours, Kerley ran 9.76 seconds in the semifinals and, less than two hours later, 9.77 in the final. Those are the world’s two fastest times this year.

“I put the work in,” Kerley told Flotrack. “It’s the day I was supposed to have.”

Kerley is joined on the world team by Rio Olympian Marvin Bracy-Williams (9.85), the world’s fastest man of 2021 Trayvon Bromell (9.88) and Christian Coleman, who scratched after qualifying fourth into the final but has a bye into worlds as reigning world champion.

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Allyson Felix extended her farewell season by grabbing the last spot in Saturday’s 400m final. She was in last place coming around the last curve in her semifinal, then surged into fourth place and made it into the eight-woman final on time.

In 2019 and 2021, USA Track and Field put all eight finalists on the world championships and Olympic teams for relay purposes. If that’s repeated this time, Felix will have made her 10th world championships team dating to 2003.

“My legs just didn’t feel the best, but I knew that’s kind of how this season was going to go,” said Felix, whose goal was to make the relay pool.

Melissa Jefferson won the women’s 100m in a wind-aided 10.69 seconds. Jefferson, the fastest collegian this season who was eighth at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago for Coastal Carolina, prevailed by three hundredths over 2018 U.S. champion Aleia Hobbs. Twanisha Terry rounds out the individual 100m team for worlds, which will also be in Eugene.

“One [NCAAs] had to be