Enhanced Games: Ben Proud turns into first British athlete to hitch controversial occasion

Olympic swimmer Ben Proud has turn out to be the primary British athlete to hitch the controversial Enhanced Games – however insists what he’s doing just isn’t undermining ‘clear’ sport.

Proud, 30, is a world and European champion at 50m freestyle, and received silver on the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

But he has now dedicated to an occasion which permits athletes to take banned performance-enhancing medicine. By participating he might be banned from worldwide competitors.

He by no means received Olympic gold or broke the 50m freestyle world document, which has stood since 2009, however feels that the Enhanced Games “give me a new opportunity to continue this pursuit and see how far I can take things”.

Asked if he thinks the occasion undermines clear sport, Proud advised BBC Sport: “No. I think it opens up the potential avenue to excel in a very different way.

“Speaking for myself, I believe realistically I’ve achieved every thing I can, and now the Enhanced [Games] is giving me a brand new alternative. I positively do not assume that is undermining a clear sport.

“I really respect the sport I’ve been part of, and I would never step back in knowing I’ve done something which isn’t in the rules.”

Earlier this 12 months, World Aquatics turned the primary worldwide sport federation to ban athletes, coaches and officers from its occasions if they’ve taken half within the Enhanced Games.

Proud has beforehand supported UK Anti-Doping’s Clean Sport Week whereas British team-mates Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott have been outspoken in opposition to doping.

Proud stated he sees ‘conventional sport’ and the Enhanced Games as “two very separate entities”, and that he discovered athletes breaking the principles “incredibly frustrating”.

“I see doping in clean sports as a complete no-go,” he stated. “I haven’t got any time for that.

“The truth it is nonetheless occurring is an issue. It’ll all the time be a cat and mouse sport, there’ll all the time be individuals growing new strategies or individuals getting away with issues.

“That’s one thing that has ruined sport for a lot of people. The anti-doping agencies just don’t have the ability to completely make sure everyone is clean and on a level playing field, and that to me has always been the biggest frustration.

“If you had been a part of my life for the previous 12, 13 years, you’d see how a lot time you need to allocate to creating certain we’re accessible to be examined each day, ensuring we’re continually giving our samples.”

BBC Sport has asked the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) for comment.

Wada’s newest Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) report, external was printed in July, protecting 2022. It stated that from 241,143 samples, 1,979 (0.82%) had been reported to be hostile findings, of which 1,376 (69.5%) resulted in an ADRV.