A late “record” has spared blushes at the first-ever Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, where Aussie sprint swimming great James Magnussen flopped and all but one competitor failed to beat official world marks despite using performance-enhancing drugs that have sparked health concerns.
Around 40 sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters took part in the divisive event. The vast majority have taken combinations of testosterone, human growth hormone, peptides, anabolic steroids and other substances banned by events like the Olympics.
The Games have been denounced by athletics governing bodies and anti-doping agencies as dangerous and against the spirit of sport.
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World record ‘broken’ at Enhanced Games | 00:37
But participants, lured by prize money of up to $US1 million ($A1.4m) for beating world records, and $US250,000 ($A350,000) for event wins, include Olympic medallist swimmers Magnussen, Cody Miller and Ben Proud, who have all taken drugs.
Magnussen, a two-time 100m freestyle world champion, was one of the highest profile names associated with the Games since the concept was first announced.
However despite almost two years of supervised doping he was unable to produce times anywhere near those from the peak of his career.
The 35-year-old’s time of 49.44 seconds in finishing last in Monday’s (AEST) four-man 100m race was almost two-and-a-half seconds slower than his career PB of 47.10 seconds.
Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev did clock a remarkable 46.60 seconds to fall just shy of the official world record — (46.40) set by China’s Pan Zhanle at the Paris Olympics.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MAY 24: (L-R) Kristian Gkolomeev, Shane Ryan and James Magnussen are seen during the Enhanced Games at Resorts World Las Vegas on May 24, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Enhanced)Source: Getty ImagesKristian Gkolomeev gave the 100m freestyle record a shake, then beat the 50m mark.Source: Getty Images
However the rest of the field failed to break 48 seconds with those finishing ahead of Magnussen including American Hunter Armstrong, an athlete competing in the event without the aid of performance-enhancing drugs who earlier scored a remarkable win in the 50m backstroke.
Gkolomeev, however, later backed up to win the 50m freestyle in 20.81 seconds and “beat” Australian Cameron McEvoy’s 50m legitimate freestyle world mark of 20.88 in the final race of the Games.
The feat is not considered official due to the event’s open doping policy, with swimmers also permitted to wear banned “supersuits” but Gkolomeev collected the $A1.4m bonus and ensured organisers were spared the embarrasment of a record-free running of the event.
“It was a great race… I got it,” said Gkolomeev, who pocketed a $1 million bonus for the unofficial record.“I’m going to continue. Maybe next year I’ll break it again.”
Magnussen was again last in the four-man final, clocking 22.35 seconds to again be well outside his personal best.
Event co-founder Max Martin had predicted “quite a few” world records would be unofficially “beaten.” But the first batch of competitions did not immediately bear that out.
Weightlifter Beatriz Piron, who reportedly surpassed a world record in training, attempted to get the Games off with a bang with the same feat in the very first event — but narrowly failed.
Dominican weightlifter Beatriz Piron competes during the Enhanced Games.Source: AFP
The first swimming event was then won by an athlete who chose not to dope. Armstrong won the men’s 50m backstroke, defeating two rivals on performance-enhancing drugs.
Clean swimmer wins out in Enhanced Games | 00:38
US swimmer Hunter Armstrong reacts after winning the 50m backstroke during the Enhanced Games at Resorts World in Las Vegas, Nevada.Source: AFP
Armstrong opted not to use performance-enhancing drugs to protect his Olympic eligibility — enterting the event solely for a crack at the lucrative prize money to help fund his training for the 2028 Games.
He wasn’t the only “non-enhanced” athlete to win, with both the men’s and women’s track 100m finals won by athletes not using performance enhancing substances.
American Fred Kerley clocked 9.97 seconds to win the men’s event while Barbadian athlete Tristan Evelyn (11.25s) won the women’s event though neither threatened world records.
“Man, they got to do better than that. They need to train a little harder. Get on that s*** a little bit more,” joked Kerley, a former 100m world champion who is serving a suspension for missing drug tests.
US swimmer Miller, meanwhile, rolled back the years to win the 50m men’s breaststroke, telling the crowd that he had “just shaved off seven-tenths (of a second) off my personal best at 34.”
Miller and fellow Enhanced Games swimmers are also wearing the types of “supersuits” that led to many official records falling around the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but were subsequently prohibited.
Britain’s Ben Proud, who took multiple substances, won the men’s 50m butterfly in 22.32sec, just 0.05 off the world mark.
“We all know what we came for. And that’s world records. And so to be that agonizingly close, it’s frustrating,” said the Paris 2024 silver medallist.
Britain’s Emily Barclays won the women’s 50m freestyle in 24.09, around half-a-second slower than the world record.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MAY 24: (L-R) Emmanuel Matadi and Fred Kerley compete during the Enhanced Games at Resorts World Las Vegas on May 24, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Enhanced)Source: Getty Images
The event’s chief sporting officer Rick Adams said he respected that “specific international organizations” would not accept any records set on Sunday, even if they were broken by clean athletes like Kerley.
“But it is uncontroverted that if one of our 50m freestyle… moves through that water in less than 20.88 seconds, they have moved through that water faster than any other human being in history,” he said, referring to Australian Cam McEvoy’s official record.
The Enhanced Games — nicknamed the “Steroid Games” by some — took place at a purpose-built $US50 million arena in a Las Vegas casino parking lot, a structure to be dismantled hours after the final race.
In a marriage of sports, biohacking, politics and entertainment, investors including billionaire Peter Thiel are rumoured to be attending, while rock band The Killers will play a closing set. Donald Trump Jr is among the event’s investors.
Health experts warn that several of the substances could risk “life-shortening and fatal consequences,” including heart, liver and kidney issues, as so little is known about their long-term effects.
But Enhanced Games officials say all medications are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and no expense had been spared on hiring top medical experts.
Emergency officials will be standing by in case something goes wrong. “I’m reasonably confident nothing will happen,” said chief medical officer Guido Pieles.
Pieles described the risk of the medications as “clearly there” but “really manageable.” His team has published the percentage of athletes taking each substance, with Martin vowing that “transparency is core to our DNA.” Yet athletes said that they are not able to disclose the specific combinations each has taken.
“The reason for that is because actually it doesn’t matter,” Martin told AFP, noting that combinations are tailored to each athlete.
Also, parent company Enhanced — which sells many of the substances being taken by its athletes to the public — does not want to “advertise for certain protocols to create imitation potential,” said Martin.