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Kristian Gkolomeev tucked his lanky, 6-foot-6 frame into a folding chair in a Las Vegas ballroom shortly after midnight on Memorial Day. No one in the sprawling casino one floor below was having a better night.
An hour earlier, Gkolomeev had provided a dramatic finale to the inaugural Enhanced Games by swimming the fastest recorded 50-meter freestyle in history — 20.81 seconds. He was aided by an eight-week regimen of performance-enhancing drugs and the type of polyurethane “supersuits” banned in traditional swimming competitions. Beating the current world record time earned the former Olympian a $1 million bonus on top of $500,000 in prize money for winning a pair of races at the first-of-its-kind event. Less than two years after signing with the controversial company, which is using sporting events to promote its online telehealth business, Gkolomeev has netted close to $3 million in earnings.
In the ballroom in Las Vegas, a reporter asked what message Gkolomeev hoped his highlight victory would send to a sporting public that has largely scoffed at Enhanced’s plans to create an athletic spectacle. Before he could answer, swimming coach Brett Hawke jumped in to answer.
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“He’s rich,” Hawke stated.
Gkolomeev smiled.
“I can support my family,” he added.
Enhanced launched in 2023 with bold, attention-grabbing ambitions to compete with the Olympics as an entertainment product and “redefine human potential” by making its contests a laboratory for cutting edge technology and biochemistry. The company has since pivoted to view its events as a viral advertisement for its online marketplace, where consumers who complete a brief medical evaluation can purchase supplements, peptides and steroids such as testosterone for at-home use. A Hims product line with a Red Bull Sports marketing strategy.
Greek Olympic swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to set a world record at the first Enhanced Games, earning him a $1 million bonus. AP Photo/Jae C. HongOne of the early fears about Enhanced was that athletes would be incentivized to push themselves beyond safe limits while the company’s colorful cast of billionaire investors reaped benefits. In its first iteration, the opposite turned out to be true. Athletes collected life-changing paychecks while the company’s bottom line suffered.The athletes who spoke to ESPN stated they took moderate dosages of drugs that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only for therapeutic use. Most participated in an eight-week cycle featuring a combination of testosterone, human growth hormone and stimulants such as Adderall.Medical experts say any of those substances in excess can pose a litany of health risks, including cardiovascular problems, fertility issues and mental health concerns, among others. The biggest risk to the athletes, according to Martin Chandler, a research fellow at the University of Birmingham, is that there is no clear evidence to show when a dose becomes dangerous.”The dose makes the poison,” Chandler stated. “The problem is when it comes to things like anabolic steroids, we don’t really understand what a moderate dose is. And there’s no kind of universal way to say, ‘This dose is perfectly safe.'”Almost all of the athletes who competed at the Enhanced Games took part in a clinical trial designed to study safe dosages for healthy people when using these substances. The company asked athletes not to share their specific regimens, but executive chairman and lead financier Christian Angermayer — a 48-year-old self-experimenter who made his fortune in biotech — stated he takes a larger weekly dose of testosterone to battle against aging than the athletes who competed.The athletes’ relative caution, at least at the first event, produced a cadre of competitors in their early or mid-30s who were able to recapture or surpass their physical peaks rather than the group of muscle-bound mutants that the concept might lead one to expect.”It’s not as crazy science experiment-y as people want to believe,” stated 34-year-old swimmer Cody Miller, who set a personal best in the 50-meter breaststroke a decade after winning a gold medal on a U.S. relay team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.Enhanced CEO Max Martin stated while the company will continue to only allow FDA-approved substances, the athletes will likely spend more time using PEDs during training in the lead-up to future events. At least one athlete, Canadian weightlifter Boady Santavy, stated he hopes to take a higher dosage in the future now that Enhanced’s medical team has learned what his body can handle.Gkolomeev and many of his peers at the Enhanced Games participated in an eight-week cycle of testosterone, human growth hormone and stimulants. Greg Doherty/Getty Images for EnhancedSantavy, who narrowly missed his attempt at a world record lift at the games, stated he expects to see more impressive results in the future. Angermayer and Martin both stated prior to the event they expected their crew of 42 athletes to outpace three to five current world records. Despite a couple other close calls, Gkolomeev ended up as the only athlete to beat a record.Enhanced, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange in early May, saw its share price drop by more than 40 percent during the first day of trading after the event.And yet, the company says it paid out more than $10 million in prize money, an unprecedented amount in sports that rarely pay well. That total doesn’t include the salary (six figures for most) or the nearly $100,000 per athlete that Enhanced stated it spent on medical care, food and lodging during a three-month training camp in Abu Dhabi. In all, Martin stated the company spent close to $50 million to produce the first games, roughly the equivalent price of six 30-second commercials during the 2026 Super Bowl.”When I first got here, I saw a contract and I was like, did they not do research? Do they think track and field people get this on the regular?” stated sprinter Marvin Bracy-Williams, who finished third in the men’s 100-meter race.Bracy-Williams, who joined Enhanced while serving a PED-related suspension, stated he was paid like a convenience store clerk while competing for medals at international events during his career in traditional track.Days after the first Enhanced Games, International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry made headlines when she stated she doesn’t “believe in paying athletes” in an interview that was unrelated to Enhanced. But weeks later, the IOC declared in late June that it would start paying all Olympic competitors a $10,000 grant for the first time in the organization’s 130-year history. Martin stated he believes his company had an impact on their decision similar to how the Saudi-backed LIV Golf created pressure for the PGA Tour to make improvements for its athletes.
“I think it’s definitely an output of the hard work that we’ve been doing,” Martin stated. “You know, it’s at least something. I’m not necessarily extremely impressed by it. I’m very proud of the work that we’ve been doing, which I think helped facilitate this a lot.”
Coventry stated in a press conference announcing the new fund that she started exploring the idea of paying athletes shortly after taking over as president a year ago. An IOC spokesperson declined to answer ESPN’s question about whether the Enhanced Games had any impact on their decision.
Nearly $1 million of the prize money went to athletes who chose not to use any PEDs, an option that was available to all competitors. “Non-enhanced” athletes Fred Kerley and Tristan Evelyn won the men’s and women’s 100-meter races on the track, and swimmer Hunter Armstrong netted $375,000 for a win in the 50-meter backstroke and a second-place finish in the 100-meter backstroke. Armstrong, who was drug-tested by USADA at the event shortly after his swim, stated he was competing at the Enhanced Games so he can afford to continue training full-time for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“I would absolutely be interested in doing this again. This was so much fun,” Armstrong stated. “I’m excited to see what the future holds and what athletes will join us.”
Last week, Enhanced declared the first event in a new series of one-off record-breaking attempts for its athletes. Thor Bjornsson, the 450-pound Icelandic strongman and actor, will attempt to break his own deadlift world record July 11 in Los Angeles. Martin stated the company plans to host additional one-off events in the future, but has yet to finalize a schedule.
Barbadian Olympian Tristan Evelyn, who did not take performance-enhancing drugs, won the women’s 100-meter in Las Vegas. Kirby Lee-Imagn ImagesOther groups have tried and failed to build sporting leagues capable of paying significant salaries to Olympic sport athletes in the past. The initial stock market reaction to the first Enhanced Games raised questions about whether the company’s marketing-based business model can be any more sustainable than those that relied on ticket sales or television contracts. The company stated only $2,755 in revenue from its online marketplace in the first three months of the year, according to an SEC filing. Martin did not share sales figures for the second quarter of the year, but stated advertising from the initial games and its athletes has helped boost customer acquisition.
“I can directly see impact, that makes me very bullish of where this company is going to be going in the next 3 to 5 years,” Martin stated.
For now, Enhanced’s deep-pocketed investors remain confident in their plan. Angermayer shared earlier this month that he put another $20 million in the company as the lead investor (and Martin added an additional $5 million) in a new $50 million funding round that Angermayer stated he hopes will carry the company to profitability by 2027.
For its athletes, many of whom signed multi-year contracts with Enhanced, that means the checks will continue to arrive on time regardless of whether they increase their PED use in the future or produce faster results.
“At the end of the day, I get to take care of my family,” Bracy-Williams stated when asked about his motivation in the lead-up to the games. “Keep my money coming on time, and we’re good. So if I don’t run faster, at least I’m crying in a four-bedroom house.”
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