Last weekend saw the finale of the English league season, with exhilaration for Hull CIty as they won the Championship play off final to join the Premier League, relief for Spurs who avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth, and dejection for West Ham as they were relegated despite winning handsomely on the final day.
While there was intense drama in English football, the anticipation was that Las Vegas would be the scene of the weekend’s real sporting drama, as Sin City hosted the first Enhanced Games. The Enhanced Games is a multi-sport event that allows athletes to use performance-enhancing substances without being subject to drug tests. In the organisation’s own words it is ‘pioneering a new era in athletic competition that embraces scientific advancements to push the boundaries of human performance’ – to the vast majority of the global sporting community that simply translates to cheating.
In the buildup to the inaugural event, the project’s founder, Maximillian Martin, had predicted that athletes would beat “quite a few” world records at the event. As it transpired, only one world record was beaten, with Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev clocking 20.81 seconds in the men’s 50m freestyle, beating the previous record of 20.88 set in March this year. However, the result won’t stand as it is considered illegal by global sporting bodies.
Of the 42 athletes taking part in the Games, the vast majority were reported to be using performance-enhancing substances. Despite this, only 13 athletes set personal bests at the event and the blue ribbon event, the men’s 100m was won by Fred Kerley, who was one of the few athletes competing clean.
Sporting governing bodies around the world will be delighted that the Games appeared to be a damp squib, with the main question now being what is the point of Enhanced Games?
The attraction for the athletes is the prize money available. Gkolomeev received $250,000 for winning his event and a $1 million bonus for his unofficial record – not a bad return for less than 21 seconds of performance. For the organisers the Games are the showpiece behind a global drugs manufacturing and marketing operation, with its products having pride of place on its website (above the games and athletes).
The Enhanced Games have been described as a circus and the events in Las Vegas have proved that it’s not even that great a circus. I’m sure the experiment will continue, but the big day out will have failed to capture the sporting public’s imagination and hopefully has relegated the project from an initiative that could have shaken the sporting world’s foundations into a slightly freakish sideshow that people will be curious about but not take very seriously.
David Little is a Partner at Bishop & Sewell in our expert Sports Law and Corporate & Commercial
If you would like to contact him, please call on either 07968 027343 or 020 7631 4141 or email: company@
The above is accurate as at 28 May 2026.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice, and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
