The American sprint star Fred Kerley is facing a two-year ban after being suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for missing three doping tests over a 12-month period.
Kerley, who won the silver medal over 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Games before taking bronze in Paris last year, was issued with the suspension by the AIU on Tuesday for three whereabouts failures.
However Kerley, who also won the 100m world championship in 2022, said immediately that he would challenge the suspension claiming that he was not to blame for one of the missed tests.
In a statement issued on Kerley’s behalf his lawyer, Howard Jacobs, said: “He strongly believes that one or more of his alleged missed tests should be set aside either because he was not negligent or because the doping control officer did not do what was reasonable under the circumstances to locate him at his designated location.”
Kerley has been one of the world’s top sprinters for years. However, he withdrew from the US track and field trials in July, writing on X: “Taking some time out to get back on track. The 100m should be a straight sprint. 2025 has presented many hurdles. Thanks to all my supporters.”
On a busy day for athletics, the Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis broke the world record for the 13th time by clearing 6.29m at the Gyulai Istvan Memorial in Budapest.
The Swedish vaulter was pushed by his Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis with both men flying over 6.02m on their first attempts.
But Duplantis then cleared 6.11m before moving the bar to 6.29m – a 1cm increase on the world‑record height he cleared in Stockholm in June – before soaring over it on his second try.
