“I don’t need it. God gave me fast feet for a reason… Drugs aren’t going to give you an advantage.” That was Fred Kerley before his Enhanced Games debut, where he competed without performance-enhancing drugs and still won the men’s 100m, clocking 9.97 seconds to collect $250,000. Now, just months after insisting he did not need drugs to succeed, Kerley appears to have changed his strategy, announcing that his life as an “Enhanced athlete” starts this week.

On August 11, Kerley shared an Instagram post featuring a mirror selfie that appeared to have been taken inside a gym. The facility shown in the picture had several pieces of strength and conditioning equipment, including cardio machines, weights, dumbbells, and other training equipment.

The picture itself was not what caught the most attention. It was the caption. Kerley began with a bold announcement: “🚨 BREAKING NEWS: My life as an Enhanced athlete starts THIS WEEK.” He then declared: “The KERLEY PROTOCOL is officially activated.” Kerley described the new phase as a “New chapter. New science. New standards. No limits.” He added that everything would be calculated and documented around one mission: “SPEED.”

He ended the post by writing: “Welcome to the next evolution of Fred Kerley.” Kerley has not exactly mentioned what the protocol contains, nor has he directly said that he has started taking PEDs.

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Still, his references to “new science,” “new standards,” and having everything “calculated” and “documented” stand out because of how the Enhanced Games describes its own approach to athletic performance. The Enhanced Games openly allow the use of performance-enhancing drugs that are banned in normal sport. The substances are not intended for use outside of a controlled system, according to its organizers.

The Enhanced Games’ official science program states that the organization promotes the use of performance enhancements in a safe, responsible and clinically supervised manner. It has a medical structure comprising an Independent Medical Commission that carries out medical protocols and ensures athlete safety, and has an Independent Scientific Commission for research and scientific studies.

That means the concept goes beyond simply telling athletes to take drugs and compete. The organizers promote a model involving medical monitoring, scientific research, athlete health data and controlled performance-enhancement protocols. That makes Kerley’s latest wording particularly interesting. Interestingly, Kerley now has another big reason to consider going fully “Enhanced” ahead of the second edition of the Games.

Fred Kerley’s 9.97 leaves $10M World record target in sight

On May 24, the Olympic silver medalist Fred Kerley won the men’s 100m at the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, clocking 9.97 seconds to collect $250,000. However, he fell well short of Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record, which he had previously talked about breaking: “It’s going to be destroyed.”

Kerley’s 9.97 was the fastest time in the inaugural men’s 100m final, but it was still 0.39 seconds away from Bolt’s record. He also failed to become the first athlete to claim the event’s $1 million world-record bonus. Even the first edition produced just one world-record performance, when Kristian Gkolomeev went under the recognized 50m freestyle mark, although the performance was not recognized as an official world record by conventional governing bodies.

The 2027 prize could make a difference to Kerley. The men’s $1 million world-record bonus has been raised to $10 million in the Enhanced Games. But to catch it, Kerley or any other sprinter will have to run faster than Bolt’s 9.58 seconds. Just getting 1st place will not suffice. There is another reason why the Enhanced Games could be particularly appealing for Kerley.

The American sprinter is currently serving a two-year Athletics Integrity Unit suspension that runs until August 11, 2027. His ban was imposed over three whereabouts failures, recorded on May 11, June 13 and December 6, 2024. As a result, Kerley is unable to compete in conventional World Athletics events during the suspension. The Enhanced Games give him another opportunity to race, stay active, and earn prize money while his ban remains in effect.