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British athletes across multiple sports are being targeted by the Enhanced Games after the US sprint star Fred Kerley became the biggest name yet to sign up for the controversial event.
Kerley, the world 100m champion in 2022, said he was joining the Enhanced Games, which allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs that are banned in official events, to become the fastest man ever.
Sources have now told the Guardian that the Enhanced Games have been reaching out to other British stars after announcing last week they had signed Ben Proud, the Olympic 50m freestyle silver medallist swimmer.
Kerley’s decision led to his being dropped by his agents, Pace Sports Management, who also represent Usain Bolt and Mo Farah. Ricky Simms, the head of Pace Sports, said: “We did not negotiate this deal and no longer represent Fred Kerley.”
The American sprinter, who won silver over 100m in Tokyo and bronze in Paris last year, has been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for whereabouts failures. If found to have committed an anti-doping violation, Kerley will be given a minimum two-year ban from track and field. However, David Howman, the chairman of the AIU, suggested there could be further sanctions.
“He is currently suspended so he is not a member of World Athletics,” said Howman. “We can’t say anything further about him until that case is concluded. But because he is suspended, he has no rights at all in relation to athletics.
“What might happen in the future is for the future. That could include a future suspension process, for example.”
Howman also questioned why anyone would want to watch the event, which is due to take place in Las Vegas next May. “I go back to when the Romans used to watch the Christians fighting the lions, and you’re always going to get an audience for something out of the ordinary,” he said. “So there may be an audience that would watch it, but I would like to ask each one of them as they went in: ‘Are you sure you would want to watch your kid doing this?’”
Brett Clothier, the head of the AIU, also described the Enhanced Games as “grotesque” but insisted the organisation was more focused on policing legitimate sport than worrying about it. “I don’t want to give the Enhanced Games too much oxygen, quite frankly,” he said. “Our biggest concern is probably about the health of Fred Kerley and other athletes who sign up to it. It’s clearly sort of grotesque, and I think athletes are being used.”
Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, said he did not want to talk about Kerley but that the sport had significantly increased its prize money in recent years. “I’m not discussing the Enhanced Games,” Lord Coe said. “We’re in the championships here. We’re certainly not going down that rabbit hole.
“But we’ve increased our revenues by about 38% in the last four years. And in the next four years we’re going to spend about $50m on prize money. I don’t want to sound like Gordon Brown, but I do want the athletes to benefit from the proceeds of growth.”
Kerley, who has a personal 100m best of 9.76sec, said he was joining the games to try to become the fastest man who ever lived. As well as appearance fees, he will win a million US dollars if he surpasses Bolt’s time of 9.58.
“The world record has always been the ultimate goal of my career,” Kerley said. “This now gives me the opportunity to dedicate all my energy to pushing my limits and becoming the fastest human to ever live.”
