Banned sprinter 'faster than Usain Bolt' is one of four athletes competing in Enhanced Games clean
A banned sprinter who claims to have ran faster than Usain Bolt is one of the four athletes competing clean at the Enhanced Games.
The hugely controversial one-day event, which allows the use of performance-enhancing substances from a pre-selected list - takes place on Sunday in Las Vegas.
Four sports - swimming, athletics track, strongman and weightlifting - will be contested.
A total of 42 athletes have signed for the event, including British athletes Ben Proud, Reece Prescod and Emily Barclay.
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Proud's entry is particularly controversial as he won silver at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the men's 50 metres freestyle swimming event.
But the most high-profile athlete to have signed up for the Games is US sprinter Fred Kerley, a two-time Olympic silver medalist over 100 metres.
Kerley posted a clip to social media in 2022 which showed him supposedly running 150 metres in 14.01 seconds, which was 0.34 seconds quicker than the record over the same distance held by Bolt.
The 31-year-old is currently serving a two-year suspension from competitive athletics over several anti-doping whereabouts failures, and signed up for the Enhanced Games last year.
Enhanced Group - the company who founded the event - released clinical trial data from 36 of its 42 athletes earlier this week and noted that, according to aggregate data, 62 per cent of the athletes set to compete have used stimulants in the build-up.
They stated that only four of the 42 athletes are competing cleanly, though say they will not release individual athlete protocol data.
Kerley, however, has decided to publicly reveal that he is not taking any performance-enhancing substances before his event, which take place over 100 metres.
'I'm still getting tested...' - Why Kerley is 'competing clean' at Enhanced Games
He told reporters on Friday that he has been undergoing regular anti-doping tests in recent months and, unsurprisingly, is competing at the Games for financial reasons.
"I don't need it [any substances]," he said. "God gave me fast feet for a reason. And I'm here to showcase my talent.
"I will compete at the Olympics in 2028. They can't do nothing. We, us athletes, pay the bills. They don't pay our bills.
"I'm still getting tested from AIU [Athletics Integrity Unit], USADA [US Anti-Doping Agency]. Simple.
"The only difference is, my pocket is getting fatter. Somebody fires you from the job, don't you gotta go get a look for ways to make more money?"
World Athletics chairman Sebastian Coe stated in 2024 that any athletes who compete at the Enhanced Games will be banned from competitive action for 'a long time'.
It remains to be seen whether that stance will apply to Kerley once his existing ban expires next year.
What is the Enhanced Games schedule?
While we don't yet know the exact order of play on Sunday in Las Vegas, weightlifting and strongman will kick off proceedings at around 11pm UK time.
The swimming and athletics events then get underway at 2am UK time on Monday morning.
Swimming will take place across four different events - the 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
In athletics, competitors will race over 100m only, while singular weightlifting and strongman events will take place.
Topics:Ā Athletics
Ryan Smart