Enhanced Games: Swimmer Emily Barclay turns into newest British athlete to affix competitors

The Enhanced Games launched as an idea in 2023, with some doping measures permitted beneath medical supervision.

Only substances permitted by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be taken, which is totally different to the listing the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) permits for elite athletes.

Organisers have claimed the occasion “will deliver transparency and health safety by removing the stigma of enhancement – bringing its responsible usage into the light, within an approved medical framework, and one that protects athletes who would otherwise risk their health by operating in the dark to circumvent punitive structures in place today”.

However, the occasion has been criticised for endangering athletes’ well being and undermining truthful play, with Wada describing it as a “dangerous and irresponsible project” and Travis Tygart, chief govt of the US Anti-Doping Agency, calling it a “clown show”.

Earlier this month, UK Athletics (UKA) mentioned it didn’t recognise the Enhanced Games as a “legitimate sporting competition”.

UKA mentioned it “places athletes’ health and welfare at serious risk”, including that “any event that promotes or permits the use of harmful substances with the aim of pushing the human body to its limit for short-term goals is not sport as we value it”.

The Enhanced Games are deliberate to be an annual competitors, initially comprising short-distance swimming, sprinting and weightlifting, with the inaugural occasion set to be held in Las Vegas on 24 May 2026.

The occasion gives look charges and bonuses, with Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev receiving a prize of $1m (£739,000) for beating a world report time within the US in February 2025.

Organisers mentioned he swam 20.89 seconds in a 50m freestyle time trial, 0.02 seconds faster than the world report set by Brazil’s Cesar Cielo in December 2009, though the time won’t be recognised by World Aquatics.