They promised multiple world records. To redefine what the human body is capable of with performance enhancing drugs. Even to change sport forever. But by the end of the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas organisers were left with one abiding emotion. Relief.
Only in the final event of the night, after more than five hours of competition, could they lay claim to having gone quicker than an official world record as Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev swam 20.81sec in the men’s 50m freestyle.
That was just 0.08s quicker than the time set by the Australian Cameron McEvoy in March. But it allowed organisers to put a gloss on a night that was glitzy but lacked the excitement and records they had forecast.
Of course Gkolomeev’s record will not count officially, given that he was wearing a special skinsuit that is outlawed in elite sport and was also doping. But that didn’t stop Enhanced Games’ CEO Maximilian Martin bowing in relief at Gkolomeev’s feet and claiming victory over the doubters.
“We have arrived in mainstream culture,” Martin claimed. “We are here to stay. We have changed the world tonight.” Organisers have made several crazy claims ever since the Enhanced Games were launched in 2023. This, though, must surely count as the wildest.
However Martin wasn’t finished yet. “With the power of enhancements we can prove we are the best we can ever think of and you are living proof of that,” he told a passionate crowd of fitness influences and biotech investors. “For the last three days Enhanced took over the internet. Enhanced is culture. And now people can also get enhanced and be the best they have ever been.”
While the vast majority of the 42 competing sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters were taking banned substances such as testosterone, EPO and anabolic steroids, three athletes who were competing clean also won.
The Paris silver medallist Fred Kerley was especially spicy after winning the men’s 100m, telling his rivals: “Man, they need to do better than that. They need to work a little bit harder, get on that shit a little bit more.”
Meanwhile Tristan Evelyn, who was also competing here as a drug-free athlete, won the women’s 100m in a very modest time of 11.25sec and then said: “This proves that winning takes more than chemistry.”
That wasn’t the message organisers wanted to impart. In between events, the giant screen told spectators what the athletes were taking. “90.5% testosterone esters. 78.6% human growth hormone. 61.9% stimulants. EPO 40.5%.”
Both Kerley and Evelyn left Las Vegas $250,000 (£185,000) richer, as did a third clean athlete, Hunter Armstrong of Australia, who won the men’s 50m backstroke event.
Before Gkolomeev’s performance all the hype and promises about the most controversial sporting event of the century appeared to be crashing down with an almighty thud. Five hours in, several world record attempts had come and gone. And even Thor Bjornsson, the 6ft 7in Icelandic strongman who stars in Game of Thrones, was unable to shift the mood as he failed to beat his own deadlift best of 510kg.
How he tried though. First he flinched as the smelling salts were snorted. Then as the bar was raised above the ankles, and towards the knees, he pushed and pushed. But it refused to budge any more.
Organisers had planned to kick things off with a bang with Beatriz Pirón of the Dominican Republic lifting 100kg in the women’s snatch to surpass the current world record in her weight class. But she fell short. And so did plenty of others.
Any event that allows athletes to dope with outlawed drugs, and permits swimmers to use banned skinsuits, is hardly going to be suffused with corinthian spirit. But the extent organisers were prepared to rip up the rulebook became clear after Canada’s Boady Santavy failed to lift more than the world snatch record on his three permitted lifts.
At that point the PA suddenly piped up. “Ladies and gentleman, we have a surprise for you. We’re going to give Boady one more chance!”
It had a whiff of a school sports day about it: you’ve failed, but let’s have another go. It didn’t work. Soon after, the US lifter Wesley Kitts was also falling short, much to the delight of some on the Enhanced Games’ YouTube site. “Make Steroids Great Again,” wrote one.
Between the action, the giant screen pumped out music and interviews with the athletes, including Britain’s Ben Proud, who left $375,000 (£278,000) richer after winning the 50m fly and coming second in the 50m freestyle. “When I heard about the Enhanced Games I felt I had got a lottery ticket,” he said. “I thought I could get a good life out of this. Boom! I’m here.”
His partner, Emily Barclay, who won the British 2019 championships but has never competed in the Olympics, also won $375,000 (£278,000) after winning the women’s 50m freestyle and then coming second in the 100m.
Despite the underwhelming results, Martin has promised that the Enhanced Games will be back and better next year. “Tonight we did expect a few more world records but this is live sports,” he said.
Organisers say that around 250,000 people watched the event live on YouTube. How many of those then bought the supplements and testosterone creams on Enhanced’s website is less clear.
