"I drop 43 on your head"- Fred Kerley and Vernon Norwood engage in banter amid Paris Olympics 2024

Paris Olympics 100m bronze medalist Fred Kerley has hit back at his countryman Vernon Norwood's claim, where he said that the former left the 400m category after he started running faster. Following this, Kerley also shared statistical data on their head-to-head 400m battles over the years.

Both Kerley and Norwood are currently at the Paris Olympics, where the former secured a bronze medal in the 100m on Monday, August 5, while the latter clinched a 4x400m mixed relay silver on Sunday, August 4.

Before transitioning to shorter distances, i.e., 100m and 200m, Kerley used to participate in the 400m, and it was one of his signature events back in the day. During his 400m career, he earned a Diamond League gold and a World Championship bronze. However, he later decided to switch his competitive running domains and won two Olympic medals in 100m and a World Championship title in the same category in 2022.

In a recent turn of events, Ashley Spencer, the 2016 Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medalist and 2013 4x400m relay world champion from the United States, asked Kerley on her X handle (formerly Twitter) if there was any chance that the fans could see him competing in the quarter mile or 400m distance once again. She wrote:

"will the world ever see a @fkerley99 back in the quarter?"

To which Vernon Norwood responded with a spicy comment, writing:

"When I started running faster you notice he stepped down to 100m. That’s all you needed to know."

Fred Kerley also did not hold back from replying to Norwood's tweet. He responded:

"I drop 43 on your head"

The "43" here means Kerley's best 400m finish of 43.64 seconds, which also stands as the tenth-fastest time ever recorded in the distance.

The 29-year-old Texas native further tweeted head-to-head results between the two, where Norwood has won only one out of the eight times they have faced each other in a 400m battle.

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When Fred Kerley exchanged heated words with Noah Lyles

World Athletics Championships. Budapest 2023. - Source: Getty

Fred Kerley and Noah Lyles engaged in a war of words last year during the World Championships when the latter claimed that he would be running times of 9.65s and 19.10s in the 100m and 200m events, respectively.

Responding to Lyles' claims, Kerley said (via ESPN):

"I'm Fred Kerley, this is my title. If Noah's going to run 9.65, then I'm running faster."

Following that, Lyles replied:

"That's what they all say 'til they get beat."

This year as well, Fred Kerley questioned Lyles' selection to the 4x400 team and blamed the USATF for taking sides. The incident took place during the World Athletics Indoor Championships.