Why couldn't Fred Kerley finish the 100m race at the NYC Grand Prix 2024? Everything about the men's 100m drama explained

Fred Kerley stepped into the NYC Grand Prix with great confidence after he made claims of breaking the 100m world record in his next race over the distance. However, the American athlete could not finish the race and there was a huge confusion on the start line of the 100m, which left fans wondering about what led to him not competing in the race altogether.

Initially, there were claims of him being disqualified from the race due to a false start as he slipped out of the blocks on the start line. He attempted to get back on the blocks once again however, he slipped out for the second time as well, after which he walked out of the track. This fueled the rumors of him being disqualified because of a false start.

Kerley put an end to the rumors by clarifying that he did not falsely start in the 100m. In the post-race interview, he revealed that he was not disqualified but instead chose to walk out of the race.

"I ain’t false start," he wrote.

The official race results indicate that Fred Kerley did not start the race as the American is marked "DNS".

Kerley in the official results

He voluntarily walked out of the race after the malfunction of the blocks and took to X to express his disappointment in the blocks provided by the race authorities during a professional meet.

"High school block at professional meet," he tweeted.

Fred Kerley opens up on the drama which happened at the 100m start line

Day 2 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

After walking out of the race, Fred Kerley opened up about the confusion and his decision to not participate in the race at the NYC Grand Prix 2024.

"They were taking too long. I was asking requesting for some new blocks. One of my pads were broken. I slipped the first time, and then I slipped the second time, and not about to have it happen a third time," said.

" We were getting cold. Like, this is a small meet. The bigger meet is in two weeks," he added.

The American athlete had previously pulled off the Stockholm Diamond League in May where he was scheduled to run the 100m. He will now turn his focus to the coveted U.S. Olympic trials, where amazing high-profile clashes are expected between top American athletes like Christian Coleman, Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, and many more.