The fastest man in the world is a Taylorite, and anyone driving on north Main Street can see him.
A dedication ceremony for Taylor native and Olympic athlete Fred Kerley will take place next Saturday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. in front of his mural on a water tower at 1606 N. Main St.
Kerley is expected to be in attendance for the ceremony and the city is already starting to buzz talking about it.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing that Taylor is doing for my son and it’s well appreciated,” said Kerley’s father Rickey Kerley.
The city and its council members echo this sentiment from Kerley’s father.
“As a city it doesn’t get any better than being able to display the fastest man in the world,” council member Gerald Anderson said.
“It really is something special.”
Kerley has become a decorated track athlete earning a gold medal at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 4x400-meter relay and a silver medal in the 100-meter relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he ran a personal best 9.84 and was only four tenth of a second behind the gold medal winner.
Kerley added another gold medal to his resume at the 2022 World Championships in the 100-meter relay to further solidify himself as the fastest man in the world.
Anderson said Kerley’s accomplishments have been an inspiration for Taylor and East Williamson County. He said Kerley was able to accomplish his goals because of how hard he worked to accomplish them.
“Fred always talked about how he was going to run in the Olympics, but when he said it you could tell he knew in his heart that he would. He put the work in and dedicated himself to get to where he is at today,” Anderson said. “He set a goal and worked every day to achieve it and I think young kids, and even adults, are inspired by that.”
Anderson said Kerley’s impact will be felt in the track program at the high school because kids want to be just like him. Track is not a commonly played sport and Anderson thinks Kerley is going to change that throughout Taylor.
“A lot of people are going to look up to Fred and are going to strive to be just as dominant if not more on the track because he proved that it is possible if you put the work in,” Anderson said.
The ceremony for Kerley is a public event and everyone in the city of Taylor is encouraged to attend
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