'We did it': Fred Kerley leads first American sweep of 100 meters at world championships in 31 years

EUGENE, Ore. — Before the race, U.S. fighter jets zoomed over the stadium. Then, down on the track, Americans flashed a different kind of speed.

Fred Kerley led the charge Saturday on an All-American night for track and field, headlining the first U.S. sweep of the sport's marquee event, the men's 100, in 31 years at the worlds. It placed a red-white-and-blue stamp on Day 2 of the first championships held on American soil.

«We said we were going to do it and we did it,» Kerley said in the on-track interview, moments after the crowd had finished chanting «USA! USA! USA!»

Kerley powered through the line to finish in 9.86 seconds and beat both the leaning Marvin Bracy and the 2021 U.S. champion, Trayvon Bromell, by less than 0.02 seconds. The difference between second and third was 0.002.

It marked the first American sweep at the world meet since Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitchell went gold-silver-bronze in 1991 in Tokyo.

«It's amazing,» said Burrell, who was on hand. «And honestly, I wouldn't have expected less from the group. This is one of the best groups of U.S. sprinters we've had in years.»

This All-American burst of speed came moments after the jets presaged the evening's main event by blazing over Hayward Stadium, the still-cozy confines on the University of Oregon campus that were renovated to bring the championships to the U.S. for the first time.

The race itself brought back memories of times when the U.S. dominated the track game in the same way Jamaica and Usain Bolt did for nearly a decade starting in 2008. Some might call that the good old days — Lewis was a star and Burrell and a few others certainly filled the stands. That was also a time of the sullen track superstar and an era marred by doping.