It took five hours of competitive action, plus the final event of the night, to get it. But the Enhanced Games finally had its world record, as Kristian Gkolomeev hit the wall in 20.81 seconds. That was the first record broken across two days of competition, but then the internet decided it wasn’t real. The Enhanced Games heard that loud and clear, and they aren’t staying quiet about it.

And all this chatter rises when Gkolomeev’s record won’t even stand officially. Yet despite that, the organizers of the Enhanced Games haven’t taken kindly to the ‘internet drivel,’ calling the achievement fake.

“Any suggestions Kristian’s time is illegitimate is disrespectful to his achievement, highly speculative, completely unfounded, and largely internet drivel that we reject,” a spokesperson said, as per The Guardian. “Our staff immediately prioritized their request and fully complied, yet another reflection of Enhanced’s commitment to respecting other sporting bodies.

“These continued accusations reflect an unwillingness by some to acknowledge the remarkable performance of our athletes, who set 22 personal best records last night.”

To provide context, Gkolomeev was the first man at the event dubbed the ‘Steroid Olympics’ to break a world record. That came despite the likes of Fred Kerley, Thor Bjornsson, Boady Santavy, Beatriz Pioón, and several others trying their best. A few, like Cody Miller, came close to. But until the final event of the night, nobody had claimed the elusive world-record bonus.

That was until Gkolomeev stepped up for the men’s 50m freestyle. Competing alongside British Olympian Ben Proud, Andrii Govorov, and James Magnussen, the Greek swimmer was among the favorites in the race. And as soon as the bell rang, Gkolomeev and Proud led the pack, battling for the world record.

However, the 32-year-old flew past Benjamin Proud in the final few moments, touching the wall in 20.81 seconds. The record Kristian Gkolomeev eclipsed was Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88, which he set at the 2026 China Open in March. And within hours of it happening, the internet’s super sleuths were at it, examining every inch of the race under a microscope until they found something.

A user named Chlorinated Caffeinated uploaded the race footage to what they called a “coach’s app.” That allowed them to track the timing properly. The video showed the race, and the app’s timer was perfectly aligned with the race clock. The user paused the footage several times to verify the sync and found that everything aligned up to the 20.0-second mark. Then came the world-record moment.

“Now let’s see what happens when I pause it at 20.81, the supposed time that was done,” the user said on Instagram. “You can see that he’s not even remotely close. If I had to guess with an expert eye, it looks like a 20.9, maybe even 21.0. And Ben Proud, it’s probably like a 21.2.

So what about the others? Looks like Gkolomeev was touching in at 22.0. And Magnussen at a 22.7, not a 22.3. So take that as you wish.”

However, some believe it was largely due to camera issues that the timing didn’t appear aligned. That has been a recurring problem at the Enhanced Games, with the broadcast freezing and experiencing other issues throughout the event. Some even believe the camera itself was out of sync.

Thus, if Kristian Gkolomeev did break the record, some observers might see it otherwise. However, others simply didn’t care. That echoed the thoughts of one “prominent coach,” as journalist Braden Keith revealed on X.

“I think what people are missing about the ‘clock controversy’ with the enhanced games is that… it doesn’t matter,” the screenshot read. “If they manipulated the clock or not doesn’t affect the credibility or outcome of the swim. It never meant anything anyway.”

Whether the clock was manipulated or not, Gkolomeev wasn’t waiting for the internet to decide how he felt about it.

Kristian Gkolomeev reflects on breaking his first world record

Gkolomeev entered the Enhanced Games having never broken the 21-second mark in the long-course event, with his personal best standing at 21.44. The now-32-year-old set that time at age 25 during the 2018 European Championships.

Despite not competing in an event since August 2024, Kristian Gkolomeev returned in February 2025 to challenge the 50m freestyle record. That took place at a private event sponsored by the Enhanced Games, where the 32-year-old recorded a time of 20.89 seconds.

That was faster than the former record set by Cesar Cielo in 2009, although Gkolomeev achieved it while using performance-enhancing dr-gs (PEDs). Then Cameron McEvoy broke the world record clean and without wearing a banned bodysuit, setting a new benchmark for the Greek swimmer. Yet it didn’t matter, as the enhanced Gkolomeev went on to shatter McEvoy’s new record by 0.07 seconds.

Even though the time has been contested, he became the first man to win the world record bonus, walking away with $1.25 million in prize money.

“I’m going to say it’s not bad at all. This is going to change my life for the good, for sure,” Gkolomeev said. “It’s a big help to me and my family. And yeah, I’m going to continue next year. Maybe I’ll break it again.”

Gkolomeev has his $1.25 million and his record, contested or not. The Enhanced Games got exactly what they came for, and the internet’s verdict changes nothing about that. Only time will tell what the long-term ramifications will be.