'Project 9.42s underway' - Fred Kerley targets breaking Usain Bolt's 100m world record at Enhanced Games

American track star Fred Kerley has set the specific time target he'll be gunning for at the Enhanced Games in his attempt to break Usain Bolt's 100m world record.

The Paris Olympics bronze medallist who announced joining the Enhanced Games - a start-up sports event that embraces scientific advancements to push the boundaries of human performance by using enhanced drugs is now confident of breaking Bolt's 100m world record of 9.58s clocked at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

In a post on his Instagram page, Kerley shared a photo from the gym, showing him training hard for the games. He captioned it: "Project 9.42 underway."

The 2022 world 100m champion's personal best currently stands at 9.76 seconds, and if he's successful in his world record quest, would see him earn a $1,000,000 bonus from the Enhanced Games founder Aron D'Souza.

This season, Kerley struggled to make a mark, having been arrested twice and subsequently suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for anti-doping whereabouts violations.

He withdrew from the US trials due to his doping case, before announcing joining the Enhanced Games, which made him track and field's first athlete to make such a move.

The Enhanced Games will be held in May 2026 in Las Vegas, with each event projected to carry a prize purse of up to $500,000. The athlete who claims first place in an event will receive $250,000.

In addition to the performance-based prizes, all competitors will receive top-tier appearance fees, and a whopping $1 million bonus for breaking the world records in the two most high-profile events - the 100m and the 50m freestyle swim.

Other sports athletes publicly signed to the meet include Team Great Britain Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud, who announced his retirement from 'traditional swimming' in order to join.

It is expected that more athletes will join because of the huge monetary rewards.