Fred Kerley Banned 2 Years
Olympic medalist Fred Kerley has been banned for two years due to missing three doping tests. The US sprinter will miss the 2026 season and potentially the next Olympics, depending on appeals. This is a major blow to American athletics as Kerley was a prominent medal contender.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) issued the two-year ban after a tribunal found Kerley had three "whereabouts failures" between May 11 and December 6, 2024. Elite athletes must provide their locations to anti-doping authorities to allow for unannounced, out-of-competition testing. Any combination of three filing failures or missed tests within a 12-month period constitutes an anti-doping rule violation. The disciplinary tribunal described the 2022 100-meter world champion as "negligent and, to a certain extent, reckless" in his failure to comply with the anti-doping regulations. Kerley had been provisionally suspended since August 2025, which caused him to miss the World Championships in Tokyo. His ban is backdated and will run until August 11, 2027. Kerley has disputed the charges, attributing one missed test on May 11 to technical problems with an app and blaming the Doping Control Officer for missed tests in December. In a social media post, he questioned a call from a Mexican number, stating, "I live in USA why is a number calling my phone from Mexico." All of his competitive results between December 6, 2024, and August 12, 2025, have been nullified. The sprinter, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and a bronze at the Paris 2024 Games, has the option to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He has also been ordered to pay $3,000 towards the legal costs of World Athletics. While facing the provisional suspension last September, Kerley announced his intention to compete in the Enhanced Games. This controversial start-up league does not prohibit the use of performance-enhancing drugs by its athletes. Following the ban, Kerley posted on social media, "You can't control me, and the truth is louder than silence."
