Fred Kerley appears to have taken a shot at Noah Lyles over his ambition to have his own shoe line with Adidas.
Kerley’s response seems to follow Lyles’ comments after his victory in the men’s 100m at the Paris Olympics, where Lyles expressed his desire to create his own sneaker brand.
During the post-race press conference, the three-time world champion emphasized that even Michael Johnson, one of the sport’s all-time greats, never achieved that feat. Lyles, aiming to elevate track and field, mentioned that launching his own shoe brand is one of his goals.
“I want my own shoe…I want my own trainers, I’m dead serious. I want sneakers since there is no money in spikes,” Lyles said.
“Michael Johnson didn’t have his own sneaker, you know. I feel like for how many medals we bring back for the notoriety we get, the fact that that hasn’t happened yet is crazy to me and I was like yeah, that needs to happen,” he added.
After his comments sparked an online uproar, former world champion Fred Kerley downplayed the situation, suggesting that it’s not a big deal and that Noah Lyles shouldn’t make it one either. The Olympic 100m bronze medallist pointed out that he had already done something similar in the past.
“People talking about making sneakers in track I already did that. Like literally did that. And we ain’t talking about spike,” Kerley shared in a tweet on his X handle.
Commenting on his post, a fan said: “Yes I remember watching you running in training shoe..few words more action.”
Other fans asked if the shoe was available for retailing. One said: “Where can we get it?” Another fan added: “Where they at? I might cop a pair.”
