Banned – doping proceedings are underway against former 100m world champion and Olympic medalist Fred Kerley

And another one goes into the net. No other discipline is as strongly associated with doping as the 100-meter dash. Of the ten fastest men in history, only three have never been involved in a doping investigation. The most recent case involves Fred Kerley, the 2022 world champion with a personal best of 9.76 seconds. He allegedly missed three doping tests and was provisionally suspended.

There are strict regulations for these tests. Each athlete must specify where they will be staying, when and where they will be training, and a 60-minute time slot for each day for three months in advance during which they can be tested at a specified location. Anyone who cannot be found three times within 12 months will be suspended. This appears to have been the case with Kerley, although the testing authority has not disclosed exactly what errors it is accusing the athlete of.

The latter has already responded and announced through a law firm that he has already informed the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) that at least one of the allegedly missed tests could not be counted - either because the athlete was not negligent or because the controller did not do everything possible to find him at the specified location.

This is reminiscent of the case of Kerley's compatriot Christian Coleman , also a sprinter. Coleman was accused of missing three checks in the summer of 2019, but thanks to a legal quibble, his lawyers were able to postpone one of them to a date outside the 12-month period in question.

The sprinter thanked them and became world champion in the 100 m. A year later, three more missed tests were added to his list of sins – Coleman was banned for 18 months and missed the Tokyo Summer Games.

And now what about Kerley? It remains to be seen whether his lawyers can find a way to let him off the hook. Either way, the sprinter's image has been damaged. And he certainly didn't need that, as he's been arrested several times recently for violent outbursts.

In January, he got into a fight with police officers because they prevented him from leaving his car, which was parked at a cordoned-off crime scene. When this became known, his estranged wife, Angelica, said he had already beaten her in their bedroom in the spring of 2024 and choked her so badly that she feared for her life. He only let go of her when his then eight-year-old daughter almost scratched out his eyes.

Kerley's lawyers attributed the fight with police, in which he was subdued with a Taser, to an overreaction by the officers. They dismissed his wife's accusations with the phrase, "It was obvious that an angry former partner was talking." Since then, the sprinter has beaten up another ex-girlfriend. In May, Alaysha Johnson called police from the athletes' hotel at a track and field meet, saying Kerley had punched her in the face with a closed fist.

The sprinter has repeatedly said that sport changed his life. His father was in prison, and his mother didn't care for him. An aunt adopted Kerley as a toddler, and he slept on the floor of a room with twelve other boys and girls. His older brother ended up in prison, and so did his younger brother. But he literally ran his way out.

Will he still be able to say that after all the pending proceedings have been concluded? At the moment, it looks as if Fred Kerley is being overtaken by his shadow.