With the Enhanced Games in the picture, athletes are facing two choices. Either to take the conventional athletic path, or to switch over to the Games. However, the financial pressure of elite sports has also become impossible to ignore for many. And this economic landscape has now driven a three-time Olympics medalist to make a decision that is sending shockwaves through the swimming world.

Former world record holder, Hunter Armstrong has announced that he will compete in the controversial Enhanced Games. While talking to Mel Stewart, the 25-year-old who has vowed to compete in the event “clean,” (without using any Performance Enhancing dr–s) shared that his decision was purely financial.

“Two things, mostly. It all boils down to my path to LA. In order to do that, I need funding,” Armstrong said with a straightforward face.

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be the event that many Americans want to compete in. However, training, equipment, and everything has a price. Moreover, Armstrong currently faces lack of adequate support in professional swimming. To an extent that losing his primary sponsor recently pushed him to even consider retirement. So, the Enhanced Games comes in as his savior.

“If I don’t join Enhanced, I lose everything,” he said.

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Despite the controversy of allowing competitors to use PEDs, the Enhanced Games is offering a whopping $250,000 in prize money for the first-place finishers and $1 million for a world record.

“I mean, I have multiple jobs on the side. I run a real estate company. I’m a contractor. I’m teaching, I’m coaching. And it’s not enough to afford living in the great city of Columbus, Ohio. This place is expensive,” he further justified his call.

Moreover, when Armstrong weighed his available options, there was a clear winner.

“But truly, I was faced with the choice of, do I get forced into retirement for lack of funding? Or do I take a unorthodox route and at least have a chance at continuing and standing on the podium on home soil?” he questioned himself.

Armstrong has a strong background in the sport. He is a two-time Olympic Champion and had set the world record in the men’s 50-meter backstroke with a time of 23.71 seconds in 2022.

However, competing at the Enhanced Games clean will give him a massive shot at earning big, but it might come with a problem that would arise later for the former world record holder in the long course 50m backstroke.

Could Hunter Armstrong be banned from the Olympics?

Well, the answer to that remains unclear. However, when it comes to the World Aquatics, they had taken an aggressive stance against the Enhanced Games, implementing a stringent bylaw in mid-2025 that effectively severed ties with anyone associated with the event.

“World Aquatics has adopted a new Bylaw that reinforces its steadfast commitment to clean sport. Under the new Bylaw, individuals who support, endorse, or participate in sporting events that embrace the use of scientific advancements or other practices that may include prohibited substances and/or prohibited methods will not be eligible to hold positions with World Aquatics or to participate in any World Aquatics competitions, events, or other activities,” the official statement read.

World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam made the federation’s position unmistakably clear, stating, “Those who enable doped sport are not welcome at World Aquatics or our events.”

However, Hunter Armstrong isn’t the only reputed swimmer out there competing in it. Notable participants include Australian swimming silver medalist James Magnussen, who openly admitted his excitement for the event, stating, “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.”

Similarly, British Olympic silver medalist Ben Proud joined, stating, “I’ve spent years striving for that within traditional sport, but my motivations have shifted. Now, I want to focus on performance at its highest level and challenge myself in new ways.”

Well, Armstrong isn’t the only American swimmer in the mix; there’s also Cody Miller and Megan Romano in the mix, all locked in for that eye-catching prize pool. Only time will tell whether the 25-year-old’s decision will boost his journey to the Olympics or make him unable to compete in them.