Sprinter Fred Kerley received a two-year ban Friday for missing drug tests — a suspension that shouldn't impact the 30-year-old former world champion because he has signed to run in a league that does not prohibit performance enhancers.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees doping cases for World Athletics, announced the suspension, quoting from a ruling that called the 100-meter champion in 2022 “'negligent and, to a certain extent, reckless'” in not adhering to anti-doping regulations.”
The decision said Kerley's missed tests occurred from May through December of 2024. Last September, he became the biggest name in sprinting to announce he would run in the Enhanced Games, a start-up league that will not penalize athletes for using banned substances.
Shortly after the ban was announced, Kerley released a flurry of social media posts, one of which featured him and a picture of him bursting through a phalanx of men dressed like military police wearing uniforms with “AIU,” “WADA” (World Anti-Doping Agency) and “USADA” (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) on them.
“I’m tired of holding everything in,” it said. “You can’t control me, and the truth is louder than silence.”
Another post, which could have been a reference to the doping-control officers that arrived on one of the days he missed a test, said “A random number from Mexico that looked like a scam call and I’m supposed to answer that? I live in USA why is a number calling my phone from Mexico.”
Kerley's suspension will run through Aug. 11, 2027.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
FILE - Fred Kerley, of the United States, competes in the men's 100-meter heats at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a reporter for a Spanish-language news outlet in Tennessee but agents didn’t have a warrant, according to court documents filed by this week her lawyer.
A court filing Friday by ICE disputes the assertion that the reporter was arrested without a warrant.
Estefany Rodriguez Florez, a reporter for Spanish-language news outlet Nashville Noticias who has done stories critical of ICE, was arrested Wednesday during a traffic stop and is being detained by ICE's enforcement and removal operations, according to documents filed in federal court in Nashville. Her lawyers called for her immediate release, but ICE has asked a judge to deny the request.
Rodriguez, a Colombian citizen, entered the U.S lawfully and has been living in the U.S. for the past five years, court records filed by her lawyer show. She has a valid work permit, and she has applied for political asylum and legal status though her husband, who is a U.S. citizen. The document filed by her lawyer does not specify a reason for her asylum request.
Rodriguez was with her husband in a marked Nashville Noticias vehicle when it was surrounded by several other vehicles and she was taken to a detention center, the news outlet said in a statement.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
ICE scheduled a meeting with Rodriguez on her case but it was rescheduled twice, first because the office was closed during a winter storm and the second time because an agent couldn’t find her appointment in the system, her lawyers said in court documents.
A new meeting was then set for March 17.
When she was arrested, Rodriguez was not shown any arrest warrant, only an immigration document telling her to appear before ICE. Her lawyer, Joel Coxander, has spoken to an ICE agent who indicated that there was no arrest warrant for her at the time of her arrest, her lawyer said in court documents.
However, a court filing by a lawyer for ICE said a valid arrest warrant was issued for Rodriguez on Monday and her visa authorizing her to stay in the U.S. had expired. The filing said her arrest and detention “are not in violation of any laws or regulations.”
Rodriguez joined Nashville Noticias in 2022, covering social, family, health, police and immigration issues, the news outlet's statement said.
“She needs to reunite with her young daughter and husband to continue her legal process within the framework permitted by law,” the statement said.
This story has been corrected to show the reporter’s second surname is Florez, not Flores as her attorneys initially said in a court filing.
FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
