An American sprinter who previously claimed to have beaten Usain Bolt’s 150 metre time has been banned from competition for two years.
American sprinter and former 100 metre world champion Fred Kerley has been suspended for two years in relation to anti-doping whereabouts failures.
The 30-year-old was initially suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in August 2025 and, as a result, missed the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
Kerley, who in 2022 posted a clip of him supposedly completing the 150 metre distance in 14.01 seconds — 0.34 seconds faster than the existing 150 metre record held by Bolt — has also been ordered to pay £3,000 in legal fees and further expenses.
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His period of ineligibility will run until 11 August 2027, while his results between 6 December 2024 and 12 August 2025 have been disqualified, along with his accolades and prize money earned during this period.
The 2022 World Athletics Championships 100m champion recorded three whereabouts failures between 11 May and 6 December 2024.
Under World Anti-Doping regulations, athletes cannot miss three anti-doping tests within a 12-month period.
A statement from the AIU read: “Given this level of experience and having been a member of the Testing Pool since 2017, the Tribunal said Kerley should have exercised more care.”
Head of the AIU Brett Clothier said: “Unfortunately, sophisticated doping substances may only be detectable within an athlete’s sample for a few days or even hours after administration.
“Anti-doping organisations need to be able to test athletes without notice on the day and hour of our choosing; otherwise, anti-doping programmes will not work and dopers will easily avoid detection. Whereabouts rules are therefore fundamental to the integrity of sport and must be respected.
“The AIU will continue to strictly enforce whereabouts requirements to protect the right of all athletes to clean competition.”
It remains unclear whether the decision will be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as Kerley suggested the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) app was responsible for a missed test on 11 May.
The 30-year-old also blamed the Doping Control Officer (DCO) for missed tests on both 6 and 7 December.
The American has not competed since July 2025 and previously signed up to the Enhanced Games in September 2025, which allow athletes to take banned performance-enhancing substances under medical supervision.
Topics: Athletics, Usain Bolt
Luke Davies