Social Media Posts, Video Footage Suggest Enhanced Games Stopped Clock Early in 50 Freestyle
Controversy already surrounded the Enhanced Games, which took place on Sunday night in Las Vegas. The competition featuring swimming, track and weightlifting promoted athletes using performance-enhancing drugs, with swimmers also allowed to wear polyurethane suits, which have been outlawed in the sport since 2010.
Many athletes and organizations, including world-record holder Cam McEvoy and World Aquatics, have disavowed the event as nothing more than a circus aimed at selling Enhanced products. Now, there are questions as to whether the Enhanced Games manipulated its highest-profile performance of the night, the 20.81 effort from Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev in the 50-meter freestyle.
Gkoloomeev was timed in 20.81 for the one-lap dash, a time faster than the official world record of 20.88, produced by McEvoy earlier this year at the China Open. Gkolomeev’s time will not be recognized as a record in any realm outside of the Enhanced Games tent, and the performance has come under the scrutiny of social media. Video and still shots of the finish appear to show the clock stopped at 20.81 before Gkolomeev’s hand touches the wall. The question is whether the video is in lockstep with the timing system, although continuity suggests as much.
Several individuals within the sport have noted the discrepancy between Gkolomeev’s touch and the clock already sitting at its final time. On social media, Melanie Wright, a longtime member of the Australian National Team and five-time Olympic medalist, wrote next to an image of the finish and clock: “When your doped up athletes get beaten by clean ones, and your whole event is a flop, so you stop the clock early to make sure there is a ‘world record.'”