Gkolomeev Breaks World Record at Controversial Enhanced Games
Greece's Kristian Gkolomeev was the sole athlete to surpass a world record at the inaugural Enhanced Games held in Las Vegas, an event mired in controversy.
The 32-year-old swimmer completed the men's 50m freestyle in 20.81 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 20.88 seconds set by Australian Cameron McEvoy in March. However, Gkolomeev's time will not be officially recognised by global sporting authorities.
Results from the Enhanced Games are deemed invalid by organisations such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) because participants are permitted to use banned performance-enhancing drugs.
The competition included athletics, weightlifting, and swimming events. Gkolomeev wore a polyurethane suit during his swim, a type of gear prohibited in official competitions.
World Aquatics criticised the event, describing it as a "circus, built on short-cuts." Despite this, Enhanced Games organisers awarded Gkolomeev $250,000 (£185,000) for his victory and an additional $1 million (£741,000) bonus for his unofficial world record.
"I'm going to say it's not bad at all. This is going to change my life to the good, for sure," said Gkolomeev.
"It's a big help for me and my family. And yeah, I'm going to continue next year. Maybe I'll break it again."
Enhanced Games: A Sporting Revolution or Risky Doping Experiment?
Most of the 42 athletes participating reportedly used performance-enhancing substances. The Enhanced Games organisers stated that "13 athletes set personal bests" during the event.
The competition was held before a curated audience of approximately 2,500 spectators, with tickets not available for public sale.
On the track, American former world champion Fred Kerley, competing without performance-enhancing drugs, won the men's 100m race in 9.97 seconds, which was slower than his personal best of 9.76 seconds.
British swimmer Ben Proud, who secured silver in the men's 50m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics, won the 50m butterfly event with a time of 22.32 seconds, narrowly missing Andrii Govorov's world record by 0.05 seconds.
"We all know what we came for. And that's world records. And so to be that agonizingly close, it's frustrating," Proud said.
Another British Olympic swimmer, Emily Barclay, claimed victory in the women's 50m freestyle with a time of 24.09 seconds, about half a second slower than the world record.
Weightlifter Hafthor 'Thor' Bjornsson, known for his role as The Mountain in the TV series Game of Thrones, also competed but did not surpass his own deadlift record of 510kg.
The substances permitted at the Enhanced Games must be legal and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These include testosterone, growth hormone, peptides, anabolic steroids, and other substances banned in traditional sports.
The organisers argue that performance enhancement already occurs in elite sports covertly and without transparency. They claim that openly allowing and monitoring such enhancements makes the practice safer.
However, many sporting governing bodies have publicly condemned athletes who chose to participate in the Enhanced Games, with some imposing bans on those athletes.
The IOC and Wada have labelled the Enhanced Games as "immoral" and "a dangerous and irresponsible concept," while World Athletics president Lord Coe described participation as "moronic."
The Enhanced Games project was established in 2023 by entrepreneurs Aron D'Souza and Maximilian Martin. It has attracted investment from notable figures including billionaire Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.
Martin had predicted that athletes would break "quite a few" world records during the event.
