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≡ ONE WORLD BEST ≡
It was a bright afternoon at Resorts World Las Vegas for the start of the Enhanced Games on Sunday, with fans and competitors braving 93 F heat for the afternoon events in weightlifting and swimming in a specially-created outdoor facility.
There were nine swimming events to just two for track and four for weightlifting and when the evening session started at 6 p.m. Mountain Time, it was still 92 F. It was down to 87 F by 8 p.m. and 83 F when it was all over by 9:50 p.m.
One of the main attractions was money, with the swimmers getting $250,000 – 125,000 – 75,000 – 50,000 for first through fourth and bonuses for “world records.” The track payouts were $250,000 – 125,000 – 75,000 – 50,000 – 30,000 – 20,000 for places 1-6.
What happened? A lot of talking over more than six hours, and some sport; in summary:
Swimming:
● Men/50 m Back: American star Hunter Armstrong – the 2023 World Champion – competing without doping, but wearing the banned supersuit, won with a surge in mid-race in 24.21, well off the world mark of 23.55.
● Men/50 m Breast: American Cody Miller, the 2016 Olympic bronzer, clearly bulked up, won in 26.55, a lifetime best, wearing a supersuit, but way off the world record of 25.95.
● Men/100 m Free: Ireland’s Shane Ryan led at the turn in 22.75, but Greece’s 2024 European 50 m champion Kristian Gkolomeev, who had been doping with the Enhanced program for more than a year, came on and won in 46.60, scaring the world mark of 46.40. Armstrong was second in 48.09.
● Women/50 m Free: Britain’s Emily Barclay got a strong start and held off American Megan Romano, 24.09 to 24.55, well off the world record of 23.61.
● Men/50 m Fly: This race had the existing world-record holder in Andrii Govorov (UKR: 22.27) from 2018, and he was out well. British star Ben Proud came on and got to the lead with 20 m left and won in 22.32, close but no record. Govorov was second in 22.66.
● Men/100 m Breast: Miller got out to a small lead on the first lap and held off Russian Evgenii Somov, 59.47 to 59.61. The world record of 56.88 from 2017 was quite safe. Miller’s second win meant a $500,000 payday.
● Women/100 Free: Romano, the 2012 World Short-Course silver winner, was out best at the turn and held on to win in 54.20, with Barclay second in 54.67. The world mark of 51.71 was not in play.
● Men/100 m Fly: German Marius Kusch, a 2022 Worlds Short-Course bronze winner, led throughout and won in 51.28, just ahead of Antani Ivanov (BUL: 51.61) and Max McCusker (IRL: 51.78). The world mark of 49.45 was not in doubt.
● Men/50 m Free: This was probably the best shot for a world best, with Gkolomeev having been doping for more than a year and fully into the Enhanced program, plus racing in the supersuit. Proud was out best, but with Gkolomeev coming hard in the final 10 m and finishing in 20.81, faster than the World Aquatics – no doping, no supersuit – record of 20.88 by Australian Cam McEvoy earlier this year. Gkolomeev won a $1 million bonus for the world best.
Athletics:
● Women/100 m heat: In a “heat” which eliminated no one, Tristan Evelyn (BAR) accelerated away from the field by 50 m and won easily in 11.18 (wind: +1.5 m/s).
● Men/100 m heat: American Fred Kerley, the 2022 World Champion, appeared to false-start, but of course was not penalized. He was in front of Emmanuel Matadi (LBR), and held on to win, 9.93 to 9.95 (+1.7).
● Women/100 m final: Evelyn was in front by 25 m and was never headed, winning in 11.25 (+0.3) with American – who was not doping for the event – Shania Collins second in 11.43.
● Men/100 m final: Two false starts, but again with no penalty. On the third try, Kerley got out well and was in front of Matadi by 25 m and won in 9.97 (-0.3) with Matadi at 10.05.
The world marks were never in danger, of course.
Weightlifting:
There were three men’s lifters, trying for records in different weight classes, but no records in either the Snatch or the Clean & Jerk. There was a failed Snatch attempt at a best-ever weight of 183 kg by Canadian Boady Santavy at 94 kg and no record tries in the Clean & Jerk.
There were no records in the women’s Snatch, during which the video stream froze for several minutes, but it was not mentioned again in the broadcast.
Observed: There was some significant time taken during the more than six hours of the livestream to say that world records should not be expected since the doping “protocol” had only been undertaken over the past four months.
But that’s how the event was sold from the very start. So Gkolomeev saved the night with his last-event heroics, with doping and a supersuit.
As for the production, installing a mixed-sport venue – including a pool – was impressive in a little more than a month, but the commentary, on-screen information and pacing was all second-class, even for a first attempt. It resembled, more than anything, the hype-machine-style first-season telecasts from the International Swimming League, which went on for three seasons and folded.
In terms of the event, the participants got a lot of money, but the Enhanced Games proved nothing we didn’t already know. If you take drugs, you can go faster than if you don’t take drugs. If you wear a banned swimming “supersuit,” you can go faster than if you don’t. This is news?
Enhanced is a publicly-traded company, based on selling steroids and other drugs and telehealth solutions and amazingly, no commercials for their products or services were incorporated into all the hours of the live stream, only some mentions in the final hour. Like the rest of the event, kind of odd.
Miller, $500,000 richer, said in an interview “this is something different.” It is different, and not a part of Olympic sport. It’s something altogether different.
¶
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