Games 100m Medal Winner Fred Kerley Signs Up for Enhanced Competition Short Time Following Ban
The Olympic sprint silver and bronze medallist Fred Kerley will compete in the first-ever Enhanced Games, competition organisers revealed on Wednesday, only weeks after the Athletics Integrity Unit issued the American a provisional suspension for failing to report his location.
Kerley Makes Historic Decision
This 2022 sprint world champion is the initial track athlete and American man to participate in the event that allows competitors to use performance-enhancing drugs that are not allowed in traditional competition.
“I’m looking forward to this new chapter and competing at the Enhanced Games,” stated Kerley. “The world record has always been my main aim of my career. This now gives me the opportunity to focus everything to pushing my limits and becoming the quickest human to has ever live.”
Enhanced Games: A New Frontier or Danger?
Officials claim that the Enhanced Games can assist in transforming athletic research as it bucks global doping prevention standards, while critics have criticized it as dangerous to competitors' well-being.
Enhanced Games launched an competition legal case against international swimming bodies, US swimming authorities and the global anti-doping organization for up to $800m in August, alleging an illegal campaign to “crush” the competition. The anti-doping agency previously slammed the event as “harmful and irresponsible”.
Expanding Roster of Elite Competitors
Kerley is alongside a number of top-level aquatic athletes who have already signed on for the competition, such as Games medal winner athlete Ben Proud, the first Briton to join.
“Kerley’s decision to participate with us does not just shows our goal of hosting the thrilling athletic competitions out there, but also strengthens the increasing appeal of the Enhanced Games as the future of elite sporting competition,” said the event chief executive, Maximilian Martin.
The inaugural Enhanced Games is set for Las Vegas in May 2026.