Enhanced Games swimmer 'breaks world record'

"The Enhanced Games gave me the resources and the team to unlock a new level of performance - and now the whole world can see what's possible," said Gkolomeev, whose previous 50m freestyle best was 21.44, winning silver behind Britain's Ben Proud at the European Championships in Edinburgh in 2018.

He added that his body shape changed considerably between doping for two weeks in advance of beating Cielo's record in Feburary and then going quicker than Dressel in textile shorts in April.

"On the second attempt I was on a full two-month cycle," he added.

"I had an extra 10lbs of lean muscle – we did a pretty good job with my coach in that short amount of time to get used by my new strength and weight in the water. It was a very good result."

The Enhanced Games did not reveal what substances he had taken, citing personal confidentiality and concern that others would follow Gkolomeev's regime unsupervised. It said they were prescribed "medically and legally".

Organisers say they allow participants to take only "medically prescribable and legally approved" substances under clinical supervision, and that they are confident they will comply with the Drug Enforcement Administration laws in the US.

Ukraine's Andrii Govorov, the 33-year-old 50m butterfly world record holder, and 21-year-old Bulgarian Josif Miladinov, a European 100m butterfly silver medallist, have also signed up.

Govorov announced his retirement from Olympic sport this week.

"This choice wasn't easy," he wrote on Instagram., external

"I spent a long time reflecting - putting everything I care about on the scale. Competing in Los Angeles [in 2028] was my dream. But life had other plans."

The recruitment of Gkolomeev, Govorov and Miladinov is a coup for the Enhanced Games after critics claimed it would struggle to convince established names, still in their prime, to cross the divide.

Australian former world champion James Magnussen, 34, came out of retirement to join the Enhanced Games in 2024, but his attempt to beat the 50m freestyle world record fell well short, recording a best time of 22.73.

The Enhanced Games have aspirations to have a 100-strong roster of participants in next year's event.

Organisers will build a four-lane 50m pool, a six-lane sprint track and a weightlifting venue at Resorts World in Las Vegas.

The project also plans to market "performance and longevity enhancements" to the general public this summer.

The Enhanced Games have been roundly criticised by senior figures in anti-doping and sports administration.

Travis Tygart, chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency, called it a "clown show", external and the World Anti-Doping Agency described it as a "dangerous and irresponsible project"., external

Speaking in November, Brent J Nowicki, the executive director of World Aquatics, said it was "a farce, and an extremely dangerous one", external, adding that those who took part should be banned from sport for life.

Jane Rumble, chief executive of UK Anti-Doping (Ukad), told BBC Sport: "We are really, really concerned by this concept.

"It flies in the face of everything Ukad stands for and it flies in the face of fair play.

"Any sporting event which permits performance-enhancing drugs is ultimately unsafe - unhealthy for athletes. It is not good for their wellbeing.

"There are also much broader societal implications. It is well documented that steroid use has been linked to domestic violence and aggression in the nighttime economy."

A Ukad survey, external published this week said 85% of UK teenagers supported banning athletes caught taking prohibited drugs.

Rumble said Ukad is unaware of any British athletes being approached by the Enhanced Games, but is planning for the possibility.

"We have clearly thought through that scenario," she said.

"There is the possibility of bans from sport for athletes taking part. If you are recently retired but still affiliated to a sports body, we could well be looking at taking action."

Jim McVeigh, professor of substance use and associated behaviours at Manchester Metropolitan University, said organisers' assurances about athletes' safety were "ignorant or deliberately misleading".

"They are focusing on the power sports - sprinting, lifting and swimming - and, for those events, athletes will take anabolic agents," he told BBC Sport.

"Athletes won't use just in the weeks before. If it is $1m, those people are going to be training now. Are organisers looking out for them? Have they started their supervision?

"In the last 10 years we have really improved our understanding of the long-term effects of steroid abuse as a population of steroid users who started in 1990s have got to a certain age.

"There are the effects on the cardiovascular system, but the big turn-up has been the impact it has on the brain. Many people will never return to normal hormonal production and function.

"We know people in the Enhanced Games are going to be taking high doses because they know everyone else is free to."

Enhanced Games officials say that by bringing the use of performance-enhancing drugs into the open and under the guidance of doctors, their event will be safer than conventional sport.

They point to a study, external of the 2011 World Athletics Championships where athletes' responses to an anonymised survey suggested almost 44% had taken a banned substance in the previous year.

A survey, external of athletes in the UK in 2022 indicated that about 13% of athletes knowingly doped.