Before this weekend’s Grand Slam Track competition in Miami, U.S. Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley allegedly struck a woman with a closed fist at a hotel, leading to his arrest on Thursday for misdemeanor violence.
The woman claimed to be Kerley’s ex-girlfriend when they met at the hotel, and Kerley, the current Olympic bronze medallist in the men’s 100-meter dash, was arrested and sent to Broward County jail. A police report claims that Kerley became hostile and threatened to “(expletive) everyone up in here.”
According to the police report: “(The woman) then advised that Kerley struck her one time in the facial area, causing her nose to bleed,”
Kerley was supposed to compete in the 100-meter dash on Saturday and the 200-meter dash on Sunday, but Grand Slam Track announced in a statement that he will not be competing this weekend. Kerley declined to say further.
After a struggle with police in which the 29-year-old was pulled to the ground, struck repeatedly, and finally subdued with a stun gun, Kerley was arrested for violence upon a law enforcement officer around four months prior to Thursday’s arrest. Then, in a separate 2024 case, Kerley was also charged with domestic violence. In both cases, he entered a not guilty plea.
