"Buy more land that's what I see" - Fred Kerley reacts after signing with Grand Slam Track to race for league's $12.6M prize money

Fred Kerley has been tending to his big farm in Texas alongside making a name for himself on the track. A true Texan cowboy, the sprinter hopes to buy more land after signing with Grand Slack Track which is coming with a $12.6M prize money for its inaugural season in 2025.

Kerley started off his 2024 season in February, running 60m indoors at the New Balance Grand Prix. He had a rough start to his season and continued to look off-color for the most part before coming to form at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials.

The 29-year-old ran an impressive season’s best of 9.88s to finish third in the final and qualify for the Paris Olympics, where he again came up clutch to win a bronze medal. He clocked 9.81s for third place in Paris, just falling behind Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson in a photo finish.

Nearly a month after his bronze medal win, Fred Kerley has now signed with Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track as a racer alongside compatriot Kenny Bednarek. He will race over both the 100m and 200m dashes, and with four slams per year and each slam winner being awarded $100k in prize money, Kerley could earn up to $400k a year in 2025 in addition to his contract money, which is expected to be nearly a similar figure for top sprinters.

Reacting to his signing on X, Kerley wrote:

"Buy more land that what I see"

Earlier in Grand Slam Track's press release, he expressed:

“When I first heard about Grand Slam Track, I knew it was something I wanted to be part of. I love competing and think the fans will really enjoy this new Track format. The fans will get to see the best of the best race against each other regularly and we have a platform to showcase our talents and continue building our fanbase all around the world. I’m excited to be part of Grand Slam Track.”

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Fred Kerley bet on himself with crucial changes last year and it paid off

Diamond League Silesia. 2024 Kamila Skolimowska Memorial.- Fred Kerley - (Source: Getty)

Fred Kerley was a 400m specialist at the start of his career before shifting to sprints. After winning the silver medal in the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics, he went on to win gold at the World Championships in the same distance. However, he failed to qualify for the 100m final at the 2023 World Championships.

The failure led to Kerley striking some changes to his coaching team. Despite the Olympics being only months away, he went to Quincy Watts. The 29-year-old claimed back then that he felt he needed to bet on himself and he did.

"Choosing to make changes is always risky, even riskier during a year like the Olympics. I felt that I needed to bet on myself. I needed to prove to myself that I was all in and that meant seeking the guidance of COACH WATTS," he wrote

However, what followed wasn't what Fred Kerley would have expected. He could barely break the 10s barrier before the start of Olympic Trials, withdrawing from his last race before the Trials due to an injury scare as well. It only proved to be a learning phase as he would go on to run multiple 9.8s runs and continues to do so.