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Kerley leads home American sweep of men's 100m final
CGTN

Fred Kerley led an American clean sweep in the red hot men's 100m final on Saturday, the first since 1991, as the U.S. hosted the World Championships for the first time. 

Kerley timed his dip perfectly to clock 9.86 seconds as Marvin Bracy took silver and Trayvon Bromell bronze, both with 9.88 seconds, but Bracy edging it by two thousandths of a second. 

A fourth American in the final, defending champion Christian Coleman, finished sixth.  

Carl Lewis led clean sweeps in 1983 and 1991, but no nation has managed it since.

(L-R) Bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell, gold medalist Fred Kerley and silver medalist Marvin Bracy at the award ceremony of men's 100m at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, U.S., July 16, 2022. /CFP

(L-R) Bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell, gold medalist Fred Kerley and silver medalist Marvin Bracy at the award ceremony of men's 100m at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, U.S., July 16, 2022. /CFP

Olympic silver medalist Kerley, 27, posted the year's leading time and a personal best of 9.76 on the same Eugene track when winning the United States trials last month, and his 9.79 on Friday was the fastest-ever world championships heat time.  

He is one of only three men, along with South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk and fellow American Michael Norman, to have broken 10 seconds in the 100m, 20 seconds in the 200m and 44 seconds in the 400m. 

Jamaican Oblique Seville, the fastest of the semi-final qualifiers, finished fourth in 9.97, while Italy's Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs withdrew before the semi-finals due to injury. 

China's Su Bingtian failed to qualify for the final, and the runner said he did not pace well. 

"I started at the wrong pace. The two athletes beside me were very fast, and I didn't want to compete with them, so I just followed my own pace," the 32-year-old said, "but I didn't run well." 

Su will join his teammates for the men's 4x100m relay in the coming days.

China's Su Bingtian (M) competes in the men's 100m semifinal at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, U.S., July 16, 2022. /CFP

China's Su Bingtian (M) competes in the men's 100m semifinal at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, U.S., July 16, 2022. /CFP

Meanwhile, seven COVID-19 cases were reported in the Japanese delegation's marathon team at the World Championships on Saturday. 

The cases included two athletes, four endurance team support staff and the head coach, and they are required to remain in isolation for five days. 

(With input from agencies) 

(Cover image: The men's 100-meter dash at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, U.S., July 16, 2022. /CFP)

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