Fred Kerley said that high schoolers competing against the pros is "hurting our sport."

Who else could he be talking about?

Players are debuting in the top flight of European soccer age 15, 16, 17, and then becoming regulars in the pro game by age 18-19. But do go on, Fred.

Christian Miller. When I first saw Kerley's comment about "talking s**t" in the call room, it didn't make sense to me why he would say that about Quincy Wilson given that they run different events. He must have been thinking about Miller being in the 100m final at the US Olympic Trials.

#phasenewgeneration #phaseshutup

Honestly I think Fred's take is dumb. Wilson has no competition in HS and little or no competition in college. Yes, he is a child in a man's world but kids grow up fast when they have to. Kids of Wilson's age have been getting killed on the front lines of wars for millennia. We're talking about running around in a circle; it can feel like high stakes but ultimately nothing really happens if you have a bad day out there except you have to deal with disappointment.

If Fred thinks the call room is too tough an environment for Wilson, maybe don't stare down a 16 year old kid? Is it necessary Fred...can't win without staring him down? And if that's going on, it doesn't seem to have affected Wilson much when he ran 44.20 as a 16 year old.

Kid had a bad race at the Olympics and people here are hating on him and saying he shouldn't have a medal around his neck? I've never heard anything more stupid.

One of the main reasons I watched any sprinting this summer was to see how Wilson would do. I certainly wasn't expecting any excitement out of Kerley. Imagine being a fan of his, he forgets his shoes, shows up, false starts a few times, blames the blocks and the meet and then loses his sponsor. Who is the more 'professional' runner between Wilson and Kerley?

25 men in history have broken 44 for 400m. Only 9 of them have also broken 20 for 200m. When we closer to the top of the list, 7 of the top 14 have broken 20.

I think that when people who are ridiculously fast at a very young age fail to meet expectations, it's more often body shape changes than burn out. Sometimes they get slower for a season or two and then adjust. Getting slower for a while after having nothing but crazy jumps in progress has to be mentally hard on a kid who may then lose interest. Having others analyse and critique their performances must surely exacerbate negative feelings. A good coach or mentor is probably necessary to help a kid through this process.

As for keeping these kids out of higher level completions, imagine a 16 year old athlete who goes to the Olympics and never makes it again. When the career is over, would they rather say they had been to the Olympics or that they qualified but weren't sent because the authorities were saving them for later?

Part of the beauty of track and field is the times speak for themselves. Age doesn't matter, sexual orientation doesn't matter, (to some extent) how much money you have or your mom/dad have, whether you are struggling in school, the track doesn't care and times speak for themselves.

Yes, times speak for themselves, and QW ran the slowest 4 x 400m US split ever run at any Olympic Games, proving Fred correct. He was too young to handle that kind of pressure. Women have split 47 on the 4 x 400m.

Fred is also right about the intimidation factor in the sprints. The sprinters are intense, even the women. Watch the Sprint series on Netflix.

Where I do think Kerley is at least partially correct is that Wilson (and any other high schooler) should limit the amount he competes against professional athletes. USA’s and the global championships, if he qualifies, are enough. He shouldn’t be out there doing Diamond Leagues or even big US meets like Sound Running or Edwin Moses. He should have time to be a kid and race other kids.

Track is simple.

First one across the line wins.

At the 400m Trials, the first 6 across the line are in the Olympic relay pool.

The Olympic experience Wilson had will be greatly helpful for him the next time.

We don't need subjective anything in this sport.

Good point

It's possible to work on stuff and also be an Olympian.

I think he's right and wrong.

I remember when Mary Cain turned pro, and there was this widespread sentiment of "well she's running the times, so she should be running pro."

But Mary herself later explained that while times wise she was professional level, emotionally she was not there yet. She couldn't drive, still depended on her parents, and was surrounded by people a decade older than her who she didn't relate to and who didn't relate to her. She needed community and friends at that age, and probably a college team would have suited her better on that level.

I don't agree per se, this is a sport where all that should matter is whether or not your times or marks are in the range needed to compete at whatever level you're trying to compete at. But since Kerley can actually beat the high schoolers, I don't mind him giving his opinion as much as I would if this were coming from a dude who finished in 8th-place dude at the Trials and who thus lost to one of the kids he's saying shouldn't be there. It would sound like sour grapes from a guy like that.

Not qualify for the final? They did qualify and the kid now has an Olympic gold medal. Please don't post when you don't know what you are talking about.

What hurts our sport is the range of different events, who is into the hthrows, te jumps AND the distance events AND the sprints, I love the sport and go to every meet I can but I don't care for a lot of it. Not a fan of watching a 10.1 100m then here comes an 11.1 with the ladies,

To be honest the most excitement is in the high schools and those bragging rights,

We simpy have to accept the sport for what it is and don't try to compare it football or soccer. Track has more of a cult following. Not unlike jazz or folk music.

If a high school kid is in with the pros he will be exceptional, and as we know high schoolers have won medals in Olympic competition a few times,

1) is the kid still playing football for bullis? if he's keeping that line of work open, you may be assuming about his future, which could look like either devon allen bouncing back and forth or like some NFL player (eg tyreek) who "used to sprint." and he'd play at least some college to pursue that.

2) in an era where some HS kids get DL meets (hobbs), and this kid already has medal cred to twist meet's arms, does he actually have to choose? he can run a HS season then pop in for the odd DL or nationals/trials when the other kids are doing junior olympics.

you don't sign for some pro team that says no moonlighting. even the pros are just slapping together a schedule.

the real debate is who trains him and what the meet mix is.

What's hurting the sport more? HS kids or Fred Kerley's stupidity?