Noah Lyles vs Fred Kerley head-to-head record: Who leads the battle for best 100m American sprinter ahead of Paris Olympics 2024

Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley are two of the fastest American sprinters at the moment. The duo have faced each other multiple times since 2020.

While Kerley has a personal best of 9.76s, which is better than Lyles’ 9.83s in the 100m, the two have won the same number of world titles in the distance — one each. The former won the World Championship in 2022 while Lyles secured the 100m title in 2023.

Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley clashed for the first time at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Both were placed in the heat 4 of the competition and it was the 2022 world champion who came out on top, beating Lyles by a marginal 0.02 seconds. He clocked 9.93s for the second position while Lyles finished third in 9.95.

The duo were placed in the second semi-final of the competition, setting them up for another battle. Kerley took first place (9.92s) while Lyles finished third in 9.97s. Both of them qualified for the finals, where Kerley finished third to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and Lyles took seventh place.

Fred Kerley won the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics behind Marcel Jacobs. A year later, he won the 100m title at the 2022 World Championships. He would face Noah Lyles before the World Championships at Prefontaine Classic and beat him by 0.07 seconds.

Before the 2024 U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials, Kerley and Lyles had faced each other four times, and it was the former who had come out on top every time. Lyles changed the equation slightly at the Olympic Trials, beating Kerley in the 100m finals to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024. At the time of writing, Kerley leads the head-to-head record 4-1.

Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley aren't the best of friends

Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley in action (Photo-Getty)

Although Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley haven't engaged in trash-talking, the two aren't friends either. It became evident after Lyles was included in the 4x400m relay team at the 2024 World Athletics Championships ahead of a few 400m specialists, including Kerley, who accused USATF of favoring the world champion.

“@usatf y’all play that favoritism like mf. Yall like puppets. For sure yes man," Kerley wrote on X in March this year.

Kerley is the eighth fastest man in 400m and was a specialist one-lap runner in his early career. However, he eventually shifted to smaller distances and now rarely runs the 400m distance. He will fight Lyles for the 100m gold at the Paris Olympics 2024.