"Noah Lyles was just too far away" - Fred Kerley explains why he was 'supposed' to win the 100m title at Paris Olympics

American sprinter Fred Kerley opened up about his 100m final race at the 2024 Olympics. This comes a few months after the conclusion of the quadrennial event where he clinched a bronze medal in the 100m event.

Kerley clocked a season-best run time of 9.81 seconds during the event but it was not enough to earn him his first Olympic gold medal. He finished behind Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson who clinched the gold and silver medals respectively.

In a recent episode of the Ready Set Go Podcast, Kerley claimed that he was in good momentum to win the race and Lyles was "far away" from him. However, he also added that a transition midway through the race proved to be a costly mistake for him. He said:

"I was killing them and once I got my transition, I set a step backwards and then try to run again. I lost that race but you live and you learn. I ain't going to tell nobody but that race is not supposed to be won by none of them people. Noah (Lyles) was too far away and you can't really see him because it was like a block lane and you can't really see anybody," Kerley said (at 1:08:35).

This was Fred Kerley's second 100m Olympic medal after the silver he won at the delayed Tokyo event three years ago.

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Fred Kerley seemingly takes a shot at Noah Lyles in Sprint S2 trailer

Kerley after winning a bronze at the Men's 100m event at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Image via Getty Images)

Fred Kerley seemingly took a shot at the three-time Olympic medalist Noah Lyles in the trailer for the upcoming Netflix docu-series "Sprint".

Lyles and Kerley have a seemingly strained relationship with each criticizing the other in the past. Kerley also raised questions about Lyles' inclusion in the 4x400m relay team at the 2024 World Indoor Championships.

In the recently launched trailer for the "Sprint" season 2 docu-series, Kerley said about his compatriot Lyles:

"Noah’s cocky, arrogant and all that."

Despite the seemingly difficult relationship between Lyles and Kerley, the two have contributed significantly to the US team's various 4x100m relay wins. Both athletes were also part of the US quartet that won the gold medal at the 2023 World Championships.