On Saturday, July 16, 2022, at 9:50pm, the final of the men's 100m was ran at the 2022 World Championship held in Eugene, Oregon. Eight men from five countries lined up for the final. These included four Americans in Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy-Williams, Trayvon Bromell and the defending world champion, Christian Coleman. Twenty-one-year-old Oblique Seville was the sole Jamaican who qualified for the men's 100m final. Incidentally, Seville won his semifinal race, stopping the clock in 9.90 seconds, making him the fastest qualifier for the finals. Therefore, much was expected from him in the final. The field was completed by Akani Simbine of South Africa, Hakim Sani Brown of Japan and Aaron Brown of Canada.
American sweep
Given the hype surrounding the Americans and the reputed fast track of Oregon, one was expecting much faster times in the final. However, that was not to be. In the end though, the twenty-seven-year-old American, Kerley won the gold medal by a very narrow margin. Kerley eeked out a gritty 9.86 for the win ahead of his countrymen Bracy-Williams and Bromell, respectively, both of whom stopped the clock in 9.88 and had to be separated by the thousandth of a second. The Americans created history by registering the first sweep in the men's 100m final at a global championship.
Seville was fourth in 9.97, finishing ahead of Simbine, who stopped the clock in 10.01. Surprisingly, Coleman, the men's 100m defending Champion, finished sixth in a similar time of 10.01. Harkin Sani Brown and Aaron Brown were seventh and eighth, in times of 10.06 and 10.07, respectively.
Kerley wins
Even as Kerley was expected to win the men's 100m final based on the consistency of his performances heading into the Championship, his victory was by no means convincing, just a mere 0.02 second margin between first and second and the same between first and third. Also, Kerley's time of 9.86 was "pedestrian" relative to the commanding heights of sprinting during the Usain Bolt era. In that regard, the winning time was a big disappointment for many fans and track and field experts. Nevertheless, we must congratulate Fred Kerley, the new 100m World Champion.
Henley Taylor
Freelance Sports Writer
Edited by Raymond Byfield
Christian Coleman photo courtesy of www.sourceathletics.com
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