The Enhanced Games have generated intense controversy since their announcement in 2023 as an international multi-sport competition that explicitly permits athletes to use performance-enhancing substances. Anti-doping agencies and sports governing bodies worldwide have warned them about their approach, with a concern about the participating athletes. However, recently, their CEO has come forward to defend the event.

“The quickest and laziest ways to depict us is by steroid Olympics or doping Olympics. The reason why I say lazy is because people are not looking what’s actually happening. People are seeing that athletes are allowed to utilize certain substances that are not allowed to use in other competitions. That doesn’t necessarily mean that people are juicing themselves up with steroids to levels that we would see from other sports like bodybuilding, right?” Enhanced Games CEO Maximilian Martin said during a recent podcast interview with SPACInsider.

“What we are actually doing is very, very targeted personalized precision medicine with athletes to get them to the best that they can possibly be.”

Martin acknowledged that performance enhancers carry genuine risks but insisted the danger lies in the conditions of their use rather than the substances themselves.

Well, the Enhanced Games have outlined a medical framework where participating athletes undergo screening and monitoring, with a medical team overseeing substance regimens. The doctors are continuously monitoring the athletes to advise them on what they can and should take and what they should not.

He even claimed that some competitors had been barred from taking certain substances because they had not received approval from Enhanced’s medical team.

The athletes signing up for this experiment come from decorated backgrounds, including British Olympic silver medalist swimmer Ben Proud, American Olympic sprinter Fred Kerley, and Australian former world champion swimmer James Magnussen, who declared that: “If they put up $1m for the 50 freestyle world record, I will come on board as their first athlete. I’ll juice to the gills and I’ll break it in six months.”

However, these competitors face expulsion from traditional sports under rules adopted by World Aquatics and other governing bodies, which ban any athlete, coach, or official involved with the Enhanced Games from participating in their events, regardless of whether they personally dope.

While athletes’ futures are being questioned due to their participation in the event, a significant reason revealed by a particular swimmer has compelled him to join the Enhanced Games.

A big reason to participate in the Enhanced Games

Hunter Armstrong, a former world record holder, recently stated that he would participate in the controversial Enhanced Games. While speaking with Mel Stewart, the 25-year-old who has pledged to participate in the event “clean,” he revealed that his choice was solely financial.

“Two things, mostly. It all boils down to my path to LA. In order to do that, I need funding. If I don’t join Enhanced, I lose everything,” he said.

Many Americans, including Armstrong, will want to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. However, training, equipment, and everything else required to prepare for an event such as the Games costs money.

Furthermore, Armstrong is facing a lack of proper funding in professional swimming after losing his main sponsor, which is where the Enhanced Games come in as a rescuer. Indeed, the event is providing a massive $250,000 in prize money for first-place finishers and $1 million for breaking the world record.

Armstrong has solid experience in the sport, having won two Olympic golds and setting the world mark in the men’s 50-meter backstroke in 2022 with a time of 23.71 seconds. And participating in the Enhanced Games will provide him with the necessary funds to prepare for the Olympics.

However, World Aquatics has made it obvious that individuals who participate in the event would be barred from participating in official events, so only time will tell what happens to the 25-year-old in the sport.