Fighter jets were overhead before the race. Americans flashed a different type of speed on the track.
It was the first U.S. sweep of the sport's marquee event, the men's 100, in 31 years at the worlds. It placed a red-white-and-blue stamp on the second day of the American Championships.
After the crowd had finished chanting "USA!", Kerley said in the on-track interview that they had done it. It's the United States of America! The United States of America!
Kerley powered through the line to win the race by less than a second. Second and third had a difference of 0.02.
It was the first American sweep at the world meet since 1991.
He said it was amazing. I wouldn't have expected the group to do anything differently. One of the best groups of U.S. sprinters we have had in a long time.
This All-American burst of speed came moments after the jets presaged the evening's main event by blazing over the University of Oregon campus that were renovated to bring the championships to the U.S.
The race brought back memories of the times when the U.S. dominated the track game and Jamaica did the same. Few people filled the stands and Lewis was a star, but that was the good old days. The era was marred by the use of performance enhancing drugs.
This one was more of a bunch of comeback stories.
Kerley said it was amazing to be around the greats. We did it in 22.
Kerley, a sprinter from Texas, was the favorite and the only one to run a sub-9 second race this year. He got a title in an event he didn't start investing time in until the lead up to the Olympics.
Kerley explained the reason for the move down in distance in an interview with RaeEdwards.
"'The Fastest Man in the World' is the only thing that makes people come to watch it," he said. I want to be the fastest man in the world.
He is a member of the fastest team in the world.
The runner-up, Bracy, was a football player at Florida State who left the team to pursue a career in track. He has a medal.
"I played football for three years but it didn't work out," he said. It means everything to come back and do this.
The favorite at last year's Olympics didn't make it out of the semifinals. He wasn't well known at these worlds, and starting on the outside in Lane 8 didn't help him in the final.
"From what happened to me in Tokyo, a lot of people didn't expect us to do this," said Bromell, who almost walked away from the sport a few years ago. We hope we got some respect tonight.
Next weekend might be when the ultimate respect comes. The 4x100 relay, an event with which the U.S. has had trouble in the past, is certain to get a lot of attention.
Kerley will lead that team. He was runner-up at the Olympics to Marcell Jacobs, who won the gold medal in Tokyo.
An abductor muscle and aglute muscle have been bothering the Italian this season, and when he did not start in the semifinals, the field began clearing.
It opened up even more when De Grasse finished fifth in the same heat.
Defending world champion Christian Coleman was the only American left in the eight-man final. They were all in the world's top nine this season and only sixth-ranked Akani Simbine of South Africa was threatening.
Coleman started fast, but ended up sixth.
There was no doubt about the sweep. Oblique Seville of Jamaica finished fourth.
He had a body-length lead on his opponent with about 40 meters to go and was in Lane 4. Kerley closed and powered through the line. The person was in the photo finish.
It was difficult to see where everyone was.
Kerley was less than a step ahead of him. The champion ran through the finish line. The result came up in about 20 seconds. When it happened, he raised his hands, and a presentation ran out and hung the gold medal around his neck. He took it off and held it in his left hand as he finished his victory lap around the rest of the track.
Chase Ealey won the gold medal in the women's shot put.
The men's long jump, hammer throw, and women's 10,000 were all won by Wang Jianan. Sifan Hassan, who won three medals in Tokyo last year, finished fourth.
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