The Enhanced Games promised to shatter world records in swimming, athletics, and weightlifting. They did not.
The Enhanced Games — a competition modelled on the Olympics, whose inaugural edition was held on 26 May in Las Vegas — had been billed as the event that would rewrite the history of sport. Unlike the Olympics, and unlike every other official competition, athletes were permitted to dope. The organisers argued that freed from the constraints of anti-doping rules, competitors would be able to reach their true physical potential and break world records across multiple disciplines. Things did not go according to plan.
Exactly one record was set. Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev improved the 50 metres freestyle mark by 0.07 seconds — a record that had been set in March by Australian Cameron McEvoy, a four-time Olympian. Gkolomeev was also wearing a polyurethane swimsuit of the kind banned from official competition since 2010. The organisers and their supporters greeted the result with considerable fanfare, declaring that they had "entered mainstream culture" and "changed the world tonight." No official sporting body will recognise the record.
Forty-two athletes competed in total, among them at least ten former Olympians. All performance-enhancing substances — including testosterone and anabolic steroids — were required to be approved by the FDA and taken under medical supervision. Four athletes declared they had used no banned substances at all, and three of those four won their events: Fred Kerley (United States) and Tristan Evelyn (Barbados) in the men's and women's 100 metres, and American swimmer Hunter Armstrong in the 50 metres backstroke.
The programme covered three sports — swimming, athletics, and weightlifting. In the pool, races were held over 50 and 100 metres in various strokes; on the track, only the 100 metres was run. Weightlifting featured the snatch and the clean and jerk.
The prize structure had been designed to attract attention: $250,000 for each individual event winner, and a further $250,000 for breaking a world record. Breaking the 100 metres sprint record or the 50 metres freestyle would have earned an athlete $1 million. No one collected either bonus.
There were no tickets on sale to the public. The audience consisted of influencers, sponsors, investors, friends and family of the competitors, and a small number of fans. Around 250,000 people watched on YouTube — a disappointing number given the months of media coverage and bold claims that had preceded the event.
The Enhanced Games were conceived by Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza in 2023, with backing from, among others, Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. Major international sporting organisations opposed the concept from the outset, arguing that normalising doping creates serious health risks for athletes.
On the night, the loudest argument against the Enhanced Games was made not by their critics, but by the scoreboard.
