Kerley wins Enhanced Games 100m - but would have finished last at Olympics

Athletics News

Fred Kerley ran 100 meters in a pedestrian 9.97 seconds to win the Enhanced Games - but that same time would have seen the former bronze medallist finish last at the 2024 Olympics.

Kerley, who predicted Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds would get "destroyed," won a race in which the sprinters had to be placed in the starting blocks four times because of false starts and untied shoes.

The only athlete to win the $1m bonus for going faster than the world record over the four hours of swimming, weightlifting and track in the specially built stadium on the Las Vegas Strip was Kristian Gkolomeev, who closed the night by swimming the 50m free in 20.81 seconds.

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Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy MP, said before the Enhanced Games she was 'unfazed' by them, focusing instead on 'clean sport' Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy MP, said before the Enhanced Games she was 'unfazed' by them, focusing instead on 'clean sport'

GB Olympic medallist leaves 'traditional swimming' to join Enhanced Games
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UK Anti-Doping Agency Chief Executive Jane Rumble criticised the Enhanced Games expressing her 'disappointment' UK Anti-Doping Agency Chief Executive Jane Rumble criticised the Enhanced Games expressing her 'disappointment'

That record won't go into the books, however, because the Enhanced Games, true to its name, allows performance-enhancing drugs that are banned in mainstream sports.

The men's 50m freestyle world record of 20.88 seconds was set two months ago in a sanctioned event by Cameron McEvoy.

Gkolomeev had also won a $1m bonus from Enhanced last year for swimming faster than the world record during a "trial."

The most iconic marks in Olympic sports, though, are in track, and when Kerley called out Bolt's 17-year-old record - but the vaunted 100m proved a messy event which didn't threaten the Jamaican's milstone.

Kerley was in a line of six runners who had to be called out of the blocks three times - an energy sapper - first for a sprinter to re-tie his shoe, then twice more when the false-start signal went off, but early motion was, apparently, undetectable and nobody was disqualified.

"A lot of false starts, a lot of jumping, a lot of people who didn't want to run their heats," Kerley said of the less-than-full field for a basically meaningless prelim race in which he false started but wasn't DQ'd. "Got to do better than that. I'm ready to run fast."

Kerley, who said he is not using performance enhancers, still pocketed $250,000 - the first-place prize for all the events.

In all, Enhanced said there were 14 personal bests set by 12 athletes, all of them swimmers and weightlifters.

Among those who made runs at world marks was Ben Proud, the British Olympic silver medalist, who finished .05 off the 50m fly mark of 22.27.

"I think I am," he said when asked if he was happy after winning $250,000. "But I think we all know what we came here for, and that's a world record."