Was The Enhanced Games Clock Synced Correctly For Kristian Gkolomeev’s 20.81?

During the ultimate occasion of the Enhanced Games final evening, enhanced athlete Kristian Gkolomeev swam to a 20.81 within the 50 freestyle. Viewers have already begun to query the validity of the time because the clock displayed on the display screen reveals a 20.81 when Gkolomeev was nonetheless a couple of full stroke away from the wall.

The Conspiracy

Some viewers have already identified that they hand-timed the 50 free and clocked a 21.0-21.1 reasonably than a 20.81. The video under makes use of the clock on the display screen which reveals Gkolomeev a stroke away from the wall when the clock is at a 20.81. This video additionally synced the 0.00 mark to when the sunshine went off on the beginning blocks.

The Potential Motivation(s)

There are a number of explanations for this and it’s laborious to know which can be true. There was some incentive for the Enhanced Games to have a timing system be misguided because the 50 freestyle was the ultimate occasion of the 6-hour Games and no World Records had been damaged but.

The Explanations

There is also the opposite facet of the reason that could possibly be the cameras had been simply not synced as much as the clock for the race. It is vital to notice {that a} clock was not even displayed through the first swimming race of the evening, the boys’s 50 backstroke. Other vital observations embrace that the boys’s 100 breast was the one different race the place the contact was filmed from overhead, and it does look like barely out of sync with the splits.

If the clock was out of sync, it will not be the primary time. During the primary prelims session of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the clock exhibited to viewers was about 2 seconds quicker than the official outcomes confirmed.

Of notice, Gkolomeev has been as quick as a 20.89 earlier than as he swam that point a yr in the past, in a supersuit, and as an Enhanced athlete. He additionally swam a 46.60 100 free earlier within the session, quicker than his lifetime greatest as a non-enhanced athlete.

With his 20.81, Gkolomeev earned a $1 million bonus, along with his $250k for successful the 50 free. Gkolomeev was suited up in a supersuit and likewise is an enhanced athlete.

The World Record within the 50 freestyle sits at a 20.88 that Cam McEvoy swam earlier this yr on the 2026 China Swimming Open. McEvoy already took to his Instagram story with two memes, together with one saying “Seriously?! Thats all you got!” McEvoy was not in a supersuit throughout his 20.88, and he’s additionally not an enhanced athlete.

Poolside POV