Las Vegas: Olympic medallist Fred Kerley will have one major difference from his rivals in the 100m sprint at the Enhanced Games – he will be running without performance-enhancing drugs in his system.
The face of the controversial event in Las Vegas will pursue Usain Bolt’s 100m world record clean this weekend. However, the 2022 world 100m champion and two-time Olympic medallist is serving a two-year ban relating to missing drug tests. Should he break Bolt’s 9.58 seconds world record, the feat will not be recognised.
Kerley’s two-year suspension does not expire until August 11, 2027, but the timing still leaves the American star with almost 12 months to try to force his way back onto the US team for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Kerley signed with the Enhanced Games in September and it was widely expected that he would use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in a bid to unofficially eclipse Bolt’s long-standing mark.
However, this masthead can reveal Kerley has chosen not to take part in the doping protocols other athletes have undergone before Sunday’s (Monday morning AEST) inaugural event.
Informed sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said after extensive consideration, Kerley decided he would not take PEDs before his 100m showdown against Marvin Bracy, Reece Prescod and Emmanuel Matadi. Unlike traditional sporting competitions, athletes at the Enhanced Games will not be drug tested.
The star of the Netflix documentary Sprint believes he does not need chemical assistance to attack a world record many regard as the toughest mark in track and field.
Kerley’s personal best of 9.76 seconds was set in Oregon in 2022, while Bolt’s 9.58 has remained untouched since the 2009 world championships in Berlin. No athlete has come close to bettering Bolt’s record.
Kerley won silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and bronze at the Paris Olympics before accepting a lucrative offer to defect to the Enhanced Games. When the Enhanced Group went public on the New York Stock Exchange last week, Kerley appeared alongside organisers at the announcement.
The 30-year-old Texan had previously teased an audacious target of 9.42 seconds under the banner “Project 9.42”, with organisers also dangling a $US1 million ($1.4 million) bonus for a world record.
Without the assistance of banned substances, however, that goal appears next to impossible.
Even if Kerley falls short of Bolt’s mark, he still stands to pocket $US250,000 ($375,000) if he wins the 100m sprint.
“The world record has always been the ultimate goal of my career,” Kerley said last year after signing with Enhanced. “This now gives me the opportunity to dedicate all my energy to pushing my limits and becoming the fastest human to ever live.”
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev already dipped under the 50m freestyle world record in testing last year, pocketing a $US1 million bonus.
Australia’s James Magnussen, who declared in 2024 he would “juice to the gills” for a shot at a $1 million payday, fell short of the target last year but is back in Las Vegas aiming to break Cam McEvoy’s world record of 20.88 seconds in the one-lap sprint.
No record in any discipline in Las Vegas will be officially recognised.
Kerley and Magnussen will compete within metres of each other at a purpose-built venue featuring a swimming pool, running track and weightlifting arena.
Enhanced Games organisers have repeatedly insisted athletes are not required to take performance-enhancing substances if they do not wish.
The broader ambition is to lure athletes away from traditional sport and towards the Enhanced Games model.
American swimmer Hunter Armstrong is also in Las Vegas but is not taking performance-enhancing substances as he pursues ambitions of competing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.