The Enhanced Games arrived in Las Vegas promising chaos, controversy and supposedly superhuman performances.
Instead, plenty of viewers were left asking one simple question: was that really it?
The long-awaited event — built entirely around the idea of athletes being allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs without the restrictions seen in mainstream sport — was hyped as the competition that would “change everything.” Organisers openly talked up the possibility of world records tumbling and sporting history being rewritten.
But after a night of swimming, sprinting and weightlifting on the Las Vegas Strip, only one recognised world-best time had actually been beaten, per Sky News.
And even that won’t officially count.
Former Olympic bronze medallist Fred Kerley was among the biggest names involved, with the American sprinter previously claiming Usain Bolt’s iconic 9.58-second 100m world record could get “destroyed.”
What followed was nowhere near that.
Kerley crossed the line in 9.97 seconds to win the men’s 100m, pocketing $250,000 in prize money in the process. But the time itself immediately drew criticism online, particularly given it would have seen him finish last in the Olympic final at Paris 2024.
The race itself also descended into confusion before the gun had even properly gone.
Sprinters were repeatedly pulled out of the blocks due to false starts, while one athlete even had to stop proceedings to re-tie his shoe. In total, the field was called back three times before the race finally got underway.
Kerley himself later admitted frustration with how the event unfolded.
“A lot of false starts, a lot of jumping, a lot of people who didn’t want to run their heats,” he said. “Got to do better than that. I’m ready to run fast.”
Despite competing at the Enhanced Games, Kerley also stated he was not using performance enhancers.
The biggest moment of the evening came in the pool rather than on the track.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev delivered the only performance faster than an official world record when he swam the 50m freestyle in 20.81 seconds.
That dipped under Cameron McEvoy’s recognised world record of 20.88, which had only been set two months earlier in sanctioned competition.
But because the Enhanced Games openly permit banned substances, Gkolomeev’s swim will not enter the official record books.
It was also not the first time he had achieved the feat. He had previously earned a separate $1 million bonus from Enhanced after swimming faster than the same mark during an earlier trial event.
Elsewhere, British Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud came close to another headline moment in the 50m butterfly, finishing just 0.05 seconds outside the world record.
Even after securing $250,000, Proud admitted the bigger target had slipped away.
“I think I am,” he said when asked if he was happy after winning the prize money. “But I think we all know what we came here for, and that’s a world record.”
According to organisers, the event produced 14 personal bests from 12 athletes across swimming and weightlifting.
Still, the reaction online was brutal.
One Reddit user labelled the entire evening “a waste of our time” after sitting through what they described as “mediocre swims” despite athletes competing in supersuits and with access to banned substances.
The post argued that many of the winning performances would not have been enough to win major traditional competitions, despite the enormous sums being handed out.
The criticism also focused heavily on the event’s messaging, with frustration aimed at commentators repeatedly discussing athlete motivations beyond the obvious financial incentives.
The user claimed it was “clearly all just an ad to get average people to buy drugs,” while questioning whether more athletes could eventually be tempted into participating because of the prize money on offer.
Particular attention was drawn to Hunter Armstrong earning $125,000 after reportedly swimming 48.0 in the 100m freestyle — a time the post claimed: “wouldn’t even final at Olympic Trials.”
The same post sarcastically acknowledged Gkolomeev’s record-breaking swim before adding: “Good for him, I guess.”
For all the headlines, outrage and attention surrounding the Enhanced Games, the night ultimately seemed to leave many viewers underwhelmed rather than amazed.
The concept promised sporting boundaries being shattered.
Instead, social media was filled with people wondering why the performances looked so ordinary despite the extraordinary premise behind the event.
Featured image credit: hafthor bjornsson / Enhanced Games / Instagram
