His personal best time of 43.64 seconds makes him the tenth fastest man in history over 400 metres.[3] During the pandemic, Kerley chose to focus on the 100 m during the Olympic cycle to improve his basic speed for future attempts at a sub-43 400 m. The decision to move down paid off as he won the silver medal in the 100 m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with a 9.84 performance. His personal best time of 9.76 seconds makes him the sixth fastest man in history over the straightaway sprint, behind Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin and joint with Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell.
Kerley is one of only three men along with Michael Norman and Wayde van Niekerk to go sub-10 seconds in 100 m, sub-20 seconds in 200 m and sub-44 seconds in 400 m.
In March 2017, he won the 400 m at the NCAA Division I Championships in a world leading time of 44.85 s, one of the top ten fastest indoor times ever. He joined his younger brother Mylik Kerley as he anchored the Aggies to a come from behind victory in the 4 × 400 m relay. The two first place finishes contributed 20 points to the team, helping bring Texas A&M to their first ever team victory at the NCAA Track and Field Championships, run on their home track. In May, Kerley ran 44.09 s, just 0.09 s off the NCAA record, while easing to the finish line at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships in Columbia, South Carolina.[6] A few weeks later Kerley set the NCAA record in the men's 400 m at the 2017 NCAA West Preliminary with a time of 43.70 s, taking three-tenths of a second off the 44.00 record by Olympic champion Quincy Watts, set almost 25 years earlier.[7][8] Kerley had met Watts just before the race.[9] He concluded his amateur career to win the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay at the 2017 NCAA Division I Championships in June.
A few weeks later, after turning professional and signing with Nike, Kerley won the 400 m at the USATF Championships in 44.03 seconds, qualifying to represent the United States in both the 400 m and the 4 × 400 m relay at the World Championships in Athletics. After winning his heat he finished third in his semi, but qualified for the final on time.[10] In the final he was unable to replicate his form from earlier in the season, finishing seventh in a time of 45.23 s. He came back a day later to help the US qualify for the finals in the relay, and then a few days later earned a silver medal behind Trinidad and Tobago.
2018
Training under Kevin Tyler with widely-renowned club ALTIS in Phoenix, Arizona,[11] Kerley finished 3rd in the 400m at the 2018 US Indoor Championships, failing to qualify for the individual 400m at the upcoming World Indoor Championships but making it onto the 4 × 400 m relay team. There, he helped the team to a silver medal finish.
Outdoors, Kerley ran several races across the international circuit, including a win in the 400m at the Rome Diamond League. However, none of his times came close to his 43.70 personal best. Despite suffering an injury in June, Kerley bounced back in August to win at the Birmingham Diamond League, before winning the Diamond League trophy in the men's 400 meters in Zurich.[12] After the season, he returned to Texas A&M to train under Francique, stating to Track & Field News "I believe in him so much that I had to come back to train with him."[1]
2019
Kerley was selected to compete for the US in the 4x400m relay at the 2019 IAAF World Relays, but the team was disqualified in the preliminaries. Kerley took wins at the Shanghai Diamond League and the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston, Jamaica, and finished third at the Stanford Diamond League. A month later, Kerley won the US title in a new personal best time of 43.64 seconds, making him the 7th fastest man on the all-time rankings at the time. At the World Championships in Doha, Kerley won the bronze medal in the individual event and helped the US to a gold in the relay.
2021
After the COVID-19 pandemic erased the 2020 season and delayed the 2020 Summer Olympics by a year, Kerley kicked off his 2021 season with several 100m races in order to work on his speed for the longer sprint; he broke the historic 10-second barrier at the TRUfit Classic in Miami on April 24, winning in 9.91 s with a maximum allowable wind velocity for record purposes (+2.0 m/s).[13] On May 19 he won the men's 100 m in 9.96 s at the Golden Spike in Ostrava, finishing ahead of former Olympic and World champion Justin Gatlin who settled for second in 10.08 s. Kerley also ran in the 200 m where he placed second with a time of 20.27 s, trailing Kenny Bednarek from the start who won in 19.93 s. According to Reuters, Kerley was satisfied with his performances, but thought there was more work to do in his 200 m and his focus for the Olympic Trials would be 400 m.[14] However, after 400m races in Doha and Hengelo caused his ankle to swell due to the turns, he decided to focus on the 100m and 200m at the Trials. Kerley also stated that the popularity of the 100m was another factor in his switch.
Despite online backlash for his decision, Kerley silenced doubters by finishing third in the 100m at the Trials, qualifying for his first Olympic team. In the 200m, Kerley struggled throughout the rounds due to the turns and their impact on his ankles, and he narrowly qualified for the final on time. However, he managed to finish an impressive fourth with his first sub-20 performance; this made him the 3rd athlete to join the "Sub 10s, 20s, 44s club for the 100m, 200m & 400m sprints", behind 400mWorld Record holder Wayde van Niekerk & Michael Norman.[15]
2022
Prior to the U.S. Championships, Kerley competed in three Diamond Leagues: Doha, where he placed second in the 200m; the Prefontaine Classic, where he placed second in the 100m; and at the Rome Golden Gala, where he won the 100m.
At the 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Kerley won the 100m in 9.77 seconds and placed third in the 200m in 19.83 seconds. Kerley ran 9.76 seconds, a personal best, in the semi-final.[16]
While competing in the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Kerley won his maiden individual World Championship gold medal in the 100m.[17] In the final, Kerley pipped compatriot Marvin Bracy on the line with a time of 9.86 seconds winning the world title in the process. Fellow American Trayvon Bromell finished third, completing a clean sweep.[18] He was knocked out of the 200m in the semi-final.
Kerley failed to advance from his semi-final of the 100m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships. However, he earned gold as a member of the United States 4x100m relay team.
Soon after his third place finish in the Xiamen Diamond League 100m, in September 2023, Kerley announced that he was no longer coached by Alleyne Francique and would be coached by Quincy Watts, the Director of Track and Field at the University of Southern California.[20]
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