Two-time Olympic medalist Fred Kerley has signed up to participate in the widely controversial Enhanced Games, which are scheduled to take place next May. The Team USA sprinter is the first track athlete and first American male to sign up for the event that encourages (supervised) PED use among its athletes, and if he produces a strong enough performance he could scoop up to $1 million in prize money.
Kerley, who won bronze in the 100m at the Paris 2024 Olympics after picking up silver at Tokyo 2020 was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for missing three drug tests within a 12-month period and is now facing a two-year ban for his ‘whereabouts failures’. He has since confirmed that he will appeal against the ban. However, he won’t be laying low while he waits for his case to be heard, announcing his participation in the Enhanced Games on Wednesday.
Speaking to the event’s official website, Kerley declared:
“I’m looking forward to this new chapter and competing at the Enhanced Games… The World Record has always been the ultimate goal of my career. This now gives me the opportunity to dedicate all my energy to pushing my limits and becoming the fastest human to ever live!”
The Team USA athletes’ decision to take part in Enhanced Games follows his arrest for allegedly punching fellow Olympian Alaysha Johnson. A few months later, he was arrested again for punching a Miami Beach police officer. Lawyers for the sprinter claim he is innocent in respect of both charges.
The Enhanced Games is a newly created event that allows athletes to use performance-enhancing substances without being subject to drug tests. The multi-sport event is partly backed by 1789 Capital – an investment fund backed by Omeed Malik, Chris Buskirk, and Donald Trump Jr, It is offering prize money of $1 million for broken world records, and each event has overall prize purses of $500,00, with $250,000 going to event winners.
Trump Jr commented on the new competition, stating:
“The Enhanced Games represent the future – real competition, real freedom, and real records being smashed. This is about excellence, innovation, and American dominance on the world stage – something the MAGA movement is all about. The Enhanced Games are going to be huge, and I couldn’t be prouder to support this movement that is changing sports forever.”
The competition has caused concern throughout the sporting world and has even been referred to as ‘reckless’ by the Athlete Commission of UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), which Enhanced filed an $800 million antitrust lawsuit against in August. The event has claimed there is an illegal campaign to make athletes boycott its events and named organisations World Aquatics, USA Swimming, and the World Anti-Doping Agency as its defendants. They are actively seeking damages and injunctive relief to stop what they claim is the defendant’s ‘Illegal campaign’.
Amid the backdrop of controversy, the debut Enhanced Games are scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in May 2026.