Clean Athletes Stole the Show at the Enhanced Games

The inaugural Enhanced Games produced one unofficial world record while others were nearly broken, but one unexpected result stood out: Athletes who said they were competing without performance-enhancing drugs won multiple events against enhanced rivals.

The festivities in Las Vegas on Saturday night were hailed as a success by the Enhanced Group, which marketed the event as a drug-friendly alternative to the Olympics. Of the 42 athletes who competed, three who said they weren’t using performance-enhancing substances won events, including U.S. sprinter Fred Kerley, who won the men’s 100-meter race and said he intends to compete at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The other clean winners were Tristan Evelyn, who won the women’s 100-meter race, and Hunter Armstrong, who won the men’s 50-meter backstroke.

There were 13 “personal bests” set, and the company touted multiple records that were nearly broken. The one event where a world record was broken was the last event of the night, when Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev won the men’s 50-meter freestyle in 20.81 seconds—0.07 seconds quicker than the record time from Australia’s Cameron McEvoy set in March at the China Open.

For his record-setting victory, Gkolomeev took home both the first-place prize of $250,000 and a $1 million bonus for breaking a world record. In total, $25 million had been set aside for prize money.

“We have arrived in mainstream culture,” Enhanced Group cofounder and CEO Max Martin said Saturday night. “We are here to stay. We have changed the world tonight.”

The record set by Gkolomeev will not be written in the official history books. Martin acknowledged in an interview with Front Office Sports earlier this month that any records set would “certainly” not be “recognized as official world records by the federation that govern these records.” He said that is “the right thing to do” because records set at the Enhanced Games are “achieved under a different set of rules.”

“Whether you call it an enhanced world record or a world record,” any records broken represent “a fact pattern that was objectively observed,” he told FOS.

Critics online made fun of the fact that clean athletes won multiple events, but the games’ organizers are calling it a home run. The company says around 250,000 people total watched the event live, which was streamed on YouTube, Roku, among others.

Looking to Expand

Enhanced Group went public on May 8 through a special purpose acquisition company merger that valued the business at $1.2 billion. Shares closed at $9.70 the day the merger closed, up 20% from its opening price, although the stock has since dipped; as of Monday, Enhanced Group was trading at $5.36.

The company is planning to parlay this year’s event into future events with additional sports. This year featured swimming, weightlifting and track. Martin told FOS future events could include long-distance triathlons, marathons, cycling, and more. “There’s more to come on the sporting side.”

Enhanced has faced critics since first launching in 2023, including from The World Anti-Doping Agency, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, and the International Federation of Sports Medicine, which argue the games normalize use of performance enhancing drugs and expose athletes to unnecessary health risks. Martin rejects those criticisms. The company is also building a consumer-facing business that sells supplements and other performance and longevity products. It will also offer telehealth services.
Martin told FOS that while it’s amazing they could change athletes’ lives through big payouts at the games, “why not extend this to broader society?”