“My lack of education about prohibited substances led me to make a mistake that cost me heavily and is without a doubt, one of the biggest regrets of my life. In Anti-doping as with the law, ignorance is not a defence. It certainly serves as a cautionary tale.”
IMMAF President Brown has travelled a path of dramatic highs and lows, reaching the Olympian podium as an athlete to suffer a doping ban that would change the course of his life. Here the IMMAF President talks candidly about his experiences, what he has learnt in life, how this has shaped the person he is today and how it informs him as IMMAF President.
Kerrith at the 1984 Olympics where he medalled with a bronze for Great Britain
Roots
Kerrith was born in 1962 in the United Kingdom, in the Midlands city of Wolverhampton, not long after his mother arrived from Jamaica to join his grandmother who had immigrated a year or two earlier. He never met his father, and with two half-brothers not to follow for another ten and twenty years respectively, he describes “quite a good upbringing at that point being the only child” at a “normal infant school in a modest area,” though he talks of “coming from a single parent background, having to build your own circle.”
School
Aged 11, Kerrith entered Springfield Comprehensive Boys School (later Heath Park) having moved to a new area the “other side of town.”
“Secondary school was an eye opener….going into a boys’ school, which was just coming out of being probably the worst school in the area and starting to modernise itself.
“That’s when all the bullying started. It was an alpha male survival environment.”
Kerrith vividly recalls his first impression as “seeing this guy come from nowhere and drop this kid with a double foot kick.”
Aspirations at the school weren’t high: You would “leave school, get an apprenticeship, get a job. That was the path of the norm you would be led down.”
Discovering Judo & Meeting IMMAF CEO Densign White
Judo was offered by Springfield as two 45-minute sessions per week, and Kerrith signed up aged 12, “in order to look after myself, because I was not looking after myself so well. It was about protection rather than about the sport.”
“And it did work. Word goes around. As soon as the kids realised you’re doing a combat sport, they give more respect and leave you alone. Judo and karate were like the dark arts because of the Bruce Lee films at the time.”
IMMAF‘s CEO Densign White, who was in a different class at the same school, also attended the judo sessions, which is where the two first met sparking a lifelong friendship. From there, both were motivated to join their local club.
Judo brought Kerrith “stability, family and like-minded people with similar goals.” It stopped “us from getting into mischief because we were focussed on training rather than going out. I was lucky to drop into that block (of peers) in terms of development and I didn’t know anything else.”
Making the Olympic Squad
Kerrith was inspired by “a Guinness Book of Records or Martial Arts book my mum had bought me for Christmas, and in there was Brian Jacks, who was my hero. He had just got back from the Munich Games (1972), I think. I remember looking at the Olympic Games thinking it would be great if I could emulate that and it was always at the back of my mind.”
At the same time, Kerrith and Densign’s club coach identified they “had something” and he channelled their energies towards making the England squad.
By the time of the 1984 Games, aged 22, Kerrith recalls he’d “been number 1 consistently for 5 years (nationally), was Junior European Champion and was in the top world rankings.”
“Being accepted as number 1 in your country and then to represent in the Olympic Games, you’re on top of the world. It was a dream come true.”
1984 Olympics – Overcoming Injury for Bronze
Then, injury struck.
“I got a cruciate ligament injury 7-months out from the Games. Someone bounced on the back of my knee and it popped.”
Kerrith underwent one of the first key-hole surgeries in London’s Harley Street in 1983, to return to training in March, just 4 months before the Games, and unable to bend his knee until weeks before.
“I didn’t actually start dropping on my knee until I got to the Games. That’s how bad it was. But my focus had been more on rehab than the event and on getting fit. By the time got there, I was quite relaxed.”
Kerrith prevailed to the semi-finals in the men’s lightweight division to lose by a frustrating split decision but went onto fight the then world number 1 and win a bronze medal for Great Britain. Meanwhile, Densign placed fifth in his division.
1988 Olympics
The 1988 Olympics initially presented as a “similar story,” sighs Kerrith, rolling his eyes.
Having maintained his number 1 ranking nationally and ranked among the worlds best, he had just been selected again for the national squad when he suffered another knee injury requiring a second key-hole surgery, but this time to the anterior cruciate ligament of his opposite knee.
When Kerrith arrived in Seoul for the games, he was just beginning to fully bend his knee. Nonetheless, “I was among one of the favourites.”
Kerrith recounts a strong draw. Going into the Semi-Finals, he was facing an opponent he had beaten months previously and who should have presented a certain win. However, to his continued regret, he “got cocky and over-confident and blew it,” erring from his game plan “to throw his opponent with an explosive move and throwing myself instead.”
To compete for the bronze medal, he had to then face world number one, Michael Swain of USA, whom he defeated to make the podium.
“Then…” says Kerrith, referring to the infamous drug scandals that overshadowed the 1988 Games, “the whole world kicked off.”
Doping Scandal
For context, it is worth taking a broader view of anti-doping at the time: Unlike today, International Federations operated by their own prohibited lists and managed their own rules and testing. In 1985, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) added diuretics to their in-competition prohibited list, to be applied at the next Olympic Games. This change was adopted by some but not all sports. Significantly, International Federations were also responsible for the education of their athletes, relying upon their medical support staff to inform and reinforce rules.
Kerrith feels that the change in Anti-Doping Regulations before the Games had been poorly communicated to athletes. He realised too late that the A4 list of banned substances they had been given included a substance that would impact his eligibility to compete.
“Going to our team doctor was the only policy or source of information, so there was a lack knowledge compared with nowadays.”
At the Opening Ceremony, it is told, that when the symbolic doves were released, they were scorched by the Olympic flame. And so, the Seoul Games went on to be dubbed one of the most controversial in Olympic history.
Officiating controversies gave rise to an escalating scandal in boxing. Then, the fastest man in the world, Ben Johnson, famously got caught for anabolic steroids use following a superhuman victory, and quickly became the centre story. British sprinter, Linford Christie, was found positive for the performance-enhancing pseudoephedrine in the same event, and Kerrith was tested among a wider testing of finalists.
To his detriment, Kerrith had been advised to take a diuretic, furosemide, to reduce his knee swelling during the flight over. The substance was commonly used at the time for reducing swelling of joints or muscles and for water retention in weight-cutting.
Two days after being tested, Kerrith received a call to inform him that his sample had returned positive, and he was called to a tribunal scheduled just a few days later, alongside British peer Linford Christie.
Looking back, he believes the shock of the biggest scandal the sporting world had seen, in the revelation that the winner of the Men’s 100m had tested positive, followed by the additional positive finding for third placed GB sprinter Linford Christie, diverted attention away from proper investigation of his case. Amidst the media attention on Ben Johnson and further shockwave of a second finding that might impact the medals awarded in the 100m, the report that a judo athlete had also returned a finding was swiftly processed. British team officials focussed on damage limitation, Kerrith feels, to his disadvantage:
“A deal had already been done in the room that one of us was going to take the fall. Linford had come 3rd in the 100m, with potential to be awarded silver following the suspension of Johnson. Also, Great Britain had come 3rd in the 4 x 100 relay in which the US Team had dropped the baton leading to their disqualification, and so there was a gold medal opportunity for them also. British Athletics was the most powerful sport federation in the UK at the time, and as I see it, we were up against them.”
Kerrith reports that British Athletics “brought over a guy from US doping who was doing a thesis on ginseng and they presented evidence that Linford was suffering from a cold.”
“I remember quite clearly us being an hour late for the hearing as we were waiting at the hotel with Linford for the ginseng vials to be delivered – which they were, in a black bag.”
“On the other hand, I don’t feel we had any support. My sole representatives were my coach, team manager and the then British Judo Chairman. We had no legal representation.”
“I was unaware of the politics at the time,” says Brown, “but have learnt with hindsight about the international corridor (of power). We didn’t really know about appeals and there was no recourse that we knew of.”
Speaking with various old-time insiders, their own views support Brown’s verdict but nonetheless the stigma has been hard to shake.
Aftermath
“ I was devastated. I didn’t know where to go. There was no support mechanism from the organisation. From the moment I was found guilty of doping, I was shoved into a taxi to the airport on my own.”
On his “own initiative” he called friends to collect him from the airport, as press were waiting at his front door. He asked the flight attendant to provide a back exit from the airport to avoid the fray.
“They were camping outside my house, in the bins. I couldn’t go home for two weeks. I went to a mate’s house until it all died down.”
From being funded as part of the national team, Kerrith now faced a two-year ban on competing with all finance cut.
“I carried on training but couldn’t compete and that finished my career. I tried to make a comeback in 1992, after starting to compete again in 1990.”
However, although ranked again at number one hitherto, he failed the national selections for the 1992 Olympics and, also, to medal at the European Championships, which would have provided an alternative route back. At that point, Kerrith knew his athletic career was over and retired.
“My lack of education about prohibited substances led me to make a mistake that cost me heavily and is without a doubt, one of the biggest regrets of my life. In Anti-doping as with the law, ignorance is not a defence. It certainly serves as a cautionary tale.”
Getting Back Up Again & Business Years
Following his dramatic fall from grace in 1988, Brown’s sharp business acumen developed as a means to survive thereafter.
“It was a challenging transition… the time you spend training full time doesn’t give you time to develop life skills for anything else. But then I was lucky and being in the right place at the right time was an important factor in the some of the choices I made.”
Kerrith cites his support network as critical at that time, “having the right people around you. Family network and good set of friends was part and parcel” of being able to move on.
He’d previously worked as a mechanic and freelance electrician, while teaching judo in schools, and he now owned a gym with Densign. From there, he found opportunities in Wolverhampton’s burgeoning nightclub scene as rave was taking off in the UK during the 1990s.
“We were among the pioneers of the house music and drum ‘n’ bass (dance music) scenes that were evolving in the Midlands and that put us at the cutting edge.”
Hosting legendary names such as Fantasia, Quest, Helter Skelter and Amazon as a club owner, Kerrith profited from successful club nights and ventured for the first time into live logistics for two Glastonbury festivals and for a forerunner of V-festival.
“This is why I say live events are part of my DNA….and this experience of being at the cutting edge enables us to push the (IMMAF) team to be better and cutting edge.”
He continued to successfully establish himself in fashion retail through the Diffusion chain, with flagship stores formerly in London’s Carnaby Street, Oxford Street and Covent Garden, of which he remains a partner to this day.
Life Lessons
Ultimately, “the things that worked against me, actually worked for me. If I’d won a gold medal at the Games, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I was forced down another avenue and that created other opportunities.”
“The set-backs you experience in sport teach you. The knock back I had in 1988 was a major set-back most people would never have in a lifetime, and having to deal with that mentally. Learning from that at an early age makes you prepared for anything and learn how to keep moving forwards. Not having a support mechanism enables you to think outside the box more deeply than most people, at the drop of a hat. Having those experiences of training full time and then overcoming those injuries too was challenging and forced me to dig deep.”
Kerrith believes surviving such highs and lows in sport gave him the tools to take on the same highs and lows that are inherent in business. Martial Arts values provide a framework for navigating life’s twists and turns.
“If I’d won an Olympic gold medal, I might have thought to be a coach for the rest of my life. Not winning that spurs me on to want more.”
Asked how what he has learned impacts his role as an International Sports Federation President, Kerrith concludes:
“It is because of my own experience that I am so passionate about Anti-doping education for athletes and at IMMAF it is high on our agenda. Since I joined the organisation, we have hired Anti-doping expert and Commonwealth Games Medical Secretary, Michele Verroken, to implement anti-doping education for IMMAF athletes and coaches as well as our testing programme. It is through her that we recently partnered with the WADA ADeL platform and are actively encouraging national federations to do the online courses. We also recently bolstered our committees with a dedicated Anti-doping Disciplinary Commission and Ethics Commission to support the work of our Anti-Doping and Medical Committees and ensure fairness and impartiality. Our experiences as athletes have shaped mine and Densign’s outlook in all areas of governing the sport and putting athlete and participant welfare first lies at the heart of everything we do.”
Michele, who previously ran the UK’s Ethics and Anti-Doping Directorate at UK Sport was, at the time of Kerrith’s doping offence, Head of the newly formed Doping Control Unit at The Sports Council, battling with sports bodies to take a more responsible approach to anti-doping.
In partnering with IMMAF, she has asserted her confidence that its senior executives fully understand the importance of educating athletes about anti-doping, its rules, its obligations and above all the management of illness and injuries without risking a doping violation:
“Education first! No one should be without access to education. IMMAF has adopted a zero-tolerance policy to cheating by doping, and therefore, it is essential that athletes, coaches and medics know their responsibility to keep the sport safe and fair.
“Mistakes happen and what is important is how you respond. From Kerrith’s experience of how important anti-doping is, IMMAF has committed to achieve WADA (World Anti-doping Agency) Code signatory status and to ensure that lessons are learned.”
Next, in PART 2, read all about Kerrith’s sports administration and MMA years.
Kerrith and Densign at Wolverhampton Civic Reception 
Kerrith and Densign as kids in judo
