Updated ,first published
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev is $1.75 million richer after winning the 50m freestyle at the Olympic Games, knocking Australia’s James Magnussen back to back-to-back places.
Magnussen’s quest for glory in Las Vegas was unsuccessful as he touched the wall in fourth place in the 50m with a time of 22.35.
Gkolomeev finished in 20.81 seconds, under Cam McEvoy’s world record that he set in March, but will not be officially approved or recognized because it was done with banned substances in his system and in a swimsuit that gave him a huge advantage.
That didn’t stop Gkolomeev and the organizers of the Improved Games from celebrating wildly after the race. On top of the $US250,000 ($350,000) prize money, the former Olympic 50m finalist will pick up a $US1 million ($1.4 million) bonus for beating McEvoy’s time.
Despite finishing last in both races, Magnussen took home $140,000 in prize money and a hefty appearance fee from the one-day event.
Gkolomeev was pleased with the impending financial crisis.
“Another million, I’ll say it’s not bad at all,” he said. “This is going to change my life for the better for sure, it’s a big help for me and my family and yes, I will continue.”
Kerley wins the 100m but falls short of Bolt’s 100m record
American athlete Fred Kerley won the 100m final at the Athletics Games, but failed to break a world record or personal best.
A male athlete was competing without drugs Las Vegas and attempted to beat Usain Bolt’s 100m World Record of 9.58 seconds, but failed to break his personal best of 9.76, crossing the finish line in 9.97.
With only 53,506 views on the YouTube stream, the 2022 100m world champion and two-time Olympic medalist had to endure two fake games, before finishing the first.
The athlete was disappointed by his fellow competitors in Las Vegas and said that he was ready to run again that day.
They need to train harder and go harder, (there were) too many false starts, too many jumps. Most people don’t want to run hot and everything, they have to do better than that.:
Magnussen finishes last as clean swimmer earns $350,000 at Sports Illustrated
Australian swimmer James Magnussen has finished last in the 100m freestyle at the Enhanced Games.
The two-time Australian Olympian, who has been taking performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision to compete in the inaugural event, touched the wall in fourth place in a time of 49.44 seconds, 2.34 seconds off his personal best from 2012.
Even with the benefit of the supersuit’s banned substances, Magnussen was no match for Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev, who won in 46.6 seconds, which is 0.2 seconds off Pan Zhanle’s world record.
Gkolomeev will take home $250,000 ($350,000), while Magnussen will still earn $50,000 ($70,000). He has one more event in the 50m freestyle, which starts shortly after 2pm AEST.
Magnussen wore a special gold swimsuit for the event after signing up two years ago as the first athlete for the improved Games.
The 35-year-old will earn a $US1 million ($1.4 million) bonus in the 50m freestyle if he can swim faster than Cam McEvoy’s official world record of 20.88 seconds, but based on his recent performances, that will be a tough ask. Gkolomeev is the favorite.
If anyone beats McEvoy’s time, it won’t be a world record, though, because swimmers are taking banned substances or wearing special swimsuits that give them an advantage.
Armstrong removes doping athletes
A clean US swimmer has beaten athletes who have taken performance-enhancing drugs to pocket $US250,000 ($350,000) at the controversial Enhanced Games.
The new sporting event, which has been strongly criticized by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee as “irresponsible and unethical”, got off to a disastrous start on Sunday when its YouTube stream stopped for 11 minutes after just seven minutes of the game.
Once the technical issue was resolved, critics of Enhanced Sports and advocates of fair play celebrated a small victory when two-time Olympian Hunter Armstrong won the men’s 50m.
Armstrong, the former world record holder in the event, touched the wall in 24.21 seconds to edge out Ireland’s Shane Ryan (25.23), who has become one of 36 athletes at the Games taking performance-enhancing drugs under strict medical supervision.
It was 0.66 seconds off the world record of Russian swimmer Kliment Kolesnikov.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist signed on at Enhanced Games due to financial difficulties after his sponsor cut him following the 2024 Paris Olympics.
His latest victory has earned him more money than he would have won racing in the traditional part of the sport. Armstrong, who is still undergoing drug tests in Las Vegas, has expressed his desire to compete in the 2028 home Olympics in Los Angeles.
Events to watch on Enhanced Sports
- 11.21am AEST – Women’s 100m first round
- 11.39am AEST – James Magnussen in the 100m freestyle
- 11.51am AEST – Fred Kerley in the 100m sprint
- 12.41pm AEST – Men’s 50m Butterfly by world record holder Andrii Govorov
- 12.55pm AEST – Deadlift Competition with Hafthor Björnsson and Mitchell Hooper
- 1.20pm AEST – Women’s 100m freestyle
- 1.43pm AEST – Women’s 100m final with Shania Collins, Taylor Anderson and Tristan Evelyn
- 1.56pm AEST – Men’s 100m butterfly final
- 2.11pm AEST – Fred Kerley in the men’s 100m final
- 2.25pm AEST – 50m freestyle with James Magnussen, Ben Proud and Kristian Gkolomeev
- 2.43pm AEST – Closing ceremony
- 2.53pm AEST – Killers concert
However, World Aquatics has threatened that any athlete who participates in the Enhanced Games will not be able to compete in events such as the world championships or the Olympics.
“I feel good,” Armstrong said. “I’ve been feeling really smooth in the water lately, and this amazing suit is insane. This suit is a game changer.”
Armstrong also added $US125,000 ($175,000) to his prize money by finishing second in the 100m freestyle. He was 1.35 seconds ahead of Magnussen.
American Fred Kerley will run later on Sunday in the 100 meters – he clocked 9.93 seconds in the heats – and is another athlete who has refused to take performance-enhancing substances such as testosterone and peptides. Kerley is eyeing Usain Bolt’s world record of 9.58, but breaking that is highly unlikely.
Rapper Tyga, who has 46 million followers, is in attendance.
Medical experts have warned about the potential long-term effects of taking such performance-enhancing substances.
More to come
Tom Decent is the senior sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect through X or email address.
