Enhanced Games: Kristian Gkolomeev swims record 50m freestyle time on opening day
The majority of the 42 participating athletes used performance-enhancing drugs and Enhanced Games stated that “13 athletes set personal bests”.
The event was held in front of a crowd of approximately 2,500 people, with tickets not sold to the general public.
On the track, American former world champion Fred Kerley – one of the “clean” athletes – won the men’s 100m in 9.97 seconds, which was short of his personal best of 9.76.
British swimmer Ben Proud, who won silver in the men’s 50m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics, triumphed in the 50m butterfly, clocking 22.32 seconds, 0.05 seconds shy of Andrii Govorov’s world record.
“We all know what we came for. And these are world records. And so to be so close, it’s frustrating,” Proud said.
Another British Olympic swimmer, Emily Barclay, won the women’s 50m freestyle in 24.09, about half a second slower than the world record.
Weightlifter Hafthor ‘Thor’ Bjornsson, who played The Mountain in TV series Game of Thrones, was also in attendance but failed to break his own deadlift record of 510kg.
Drugs used in the Enhanced Games must be legal and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
They include testosterone, growth hormone, peptides, anabolic steroids and other substances banned in sports.
Event organizers say improvement already exists in elite sport, but secretly and without transparency, and say making it public, where it can be monitored, makes it safer.
However, many sports governing bodies have publicly reprimanded athletes who chose to participate in the games and some sports bodies have banned athletes from participating.
The IOC and WADA called the enhanced Games “immoral” and a “dangerous and irresponsible concept”, while World Athletics president Lord Coe said anyone taking part in them was “idiot”.
The project was founded by entrepreneurs Aron D’Souza and Maximilian Martin in 2023 and has attracted support from high-profile investors including billionaire Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.
Martin predicted that athletes would break “quite a few” world records at the event.
