Aquatics GB condemns Ben Proud becoming a member of Enhanced Games: GB Olympic medallist retires from ‘conventional swimming’ to compete at controversial occasion | Swimming Information

Aquatics GB has condemned Team GB Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud retiring from ‘conventional swimming’ with a view to compete on the controversial Enhanced Games subsequent May. 

Created by Australian businessman Aron D’Souza, the Enhanced Games will permit athletes to make use of performance-enhancing substances with out being subjected to drug assessments.

Proud, 30, is a former world champion and gained his maiden Olympic medal on the third try on the Paris Games in 2024, clinching silver within the 50-metre freestyle.

The inaugural Enhanced Games are scheduled to happen in May 2026 in Las Vegas. Cocaine and heroin use won’t be permitted.

After Proud’s resolution was made public, Aquatics GB put out a press release denouncing his transfer.

“Aquatics GB is immensely disappointed in Ben Proud’s announcement to sign with the Enhanced Games,” it learn.

“Aquatics GB, along with our partners, stand firmly behind the values and principles of clean sport and condemns Ben’s decision in the strongest terms.

“An extra assertion will likely be issued sooner or later.”

Posting on Instagram, Proud said: “It’s time for a shift. I will likely be retiring from conventional swimming to compete within the Enhanced Games.

“Stepping into a framework that challenges everything we know about performance, and a chance to chase the outer edge of human potential with the tools and possibilities of our time.

“This is the place my subsequent chapter begins.”

Jane Rumble, UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) chief govt stated Proud’s resolution dangers undermining sporting integrity.

“It is incredibly disappointing that any British athlete would consider competing in an event that flies in the face of the true spirit of sport,” she stated.

“Any decision by any athlete to compete in the Enhanced Games risks undermining the values of a sporting landscape that prizes hard work, integrity, pure talent and 100 per cent clean sport.

“It’s a panorama UK Anti-Doping works exhausting to guard, so it’s with deep concern for all clear athletes, and all those that love sport, that the occasion could go forward, with any British athlete saying they may participate.

“It is an undertaking that diminishes, rather than ‘enhances’, all those involved.” 

A spokesperson for elite sport funding physique UK Sport stated: “UK Sport condemns everything the Enhanced Games stands for in the strongest possible terms.

“We imagine it dangers compromising athlete well being and welfare, undermines the belief of followers and is absolutely the antithesis to our philosophy of successful effectively. We are extremely upset to study that any British athlete in one in every of our Olympic or Paralympic programmes would help such an occasion.

“We are engaging with our colleagues at Aquatics GB as a matter of urgency to determine Ben Proud’s suitability to receive public funds.

“It is obvious nonetheless that any breach of anti-doping guidelines is opposite to the insurance policies which any athlete should adjust to to obtain UK Sport funding.”

A statement on the Enhanced Games website saw Proud state: “My ambition has all the time been to be the quickest man on the planet. I’ve spent years striving for that inside conventional sport, however my motivations have shifted.

“Now, I want to focus on performance at its highest level and challenge myself in new ways. The Enhanced Games gives me that chance – to test the limits of human potential with the tools and possibilities of our time.”

Proud gained gold within the 2022 World Aquatics Championships within the 50-metre freestyle, having beforehand grow to be world champion in 2017 in the identical occasion, and is a a number of Commonwealth Games champion.

Of the Enhanced Games idea, UK Anti-Doping stated final yr its mission was “to protect sport from doping cheats,” including: “There is no place in sport for performance-enhancing drugs, nor the Enhanced Games.”

A enterprise capital fund – which incorporates US President Donald Trump’s son Jr and billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel – has backed the idea.

World Athletics president Lord Coe beforehand commented that participating could be “moronic” and any competitor would face a “lengthy ban”.

Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev – a former World Championship silver medallist and European champion – Ukrainian swimmer Andriy Govorov – who holds the world report for the 50m butterfly – and Bulgaria’s Josif Miladinov – a European silver medallist within the 100m butterfly – have additionally introduced they are going to be part of the Enhanced Games

Australian former world champion James Magnussen got here out of retirement to affix the Enhanced Games in 2024.