Ben Proud is betting big on the Enhanced Games, and he's betting on himself. The former British Olympian signed on for a mid-six-figure payday and stands to earn another $1.25 million if he breaks the 50-meter freestyle world record on Sunday night. But as the controversial event faces withering criticism from anti-doping authorities worldwide, Proud is pushing back against accusations that watching elite athletes use performance-enhancing drugs on camera will inspire younger competitors to follow suit.
"There is a blurry line," Proud acknowledged when pressed on the World Anti-Doping Agency's concern. "I can't argue against it. But to me, if you understand the stories of the people who are here, you'll understand that we've done our career clean and we're doing this for a very good reason. And more importantly, under the safest environment possible."
The 31-year-old Paris 2024 silver medalist was explicit about the performance gains at stake. He and his Greek rival Kristian Gkolomeev will benefit from banned polyurethane skinsuits and pharmaceutical enhancements unavailable in traditional competition. Proud estimated the combined advantage at one to two percent per substance, enough potentially to shatter the existing world mark. "I wouldn't be surprised if both of us go under the official world record," he said.
Despite knowing his reputation would take a hit, Proud insisted he was at peace with the decision. "I'm not worried about my reputation," he said. "I knew stepping over to the Enhanced Games was going to change a lot about my image and what people think about me. But if you understand me and my career, the 10 years that I had were all clean. That is in the past. And what I do now is a very different Ben Proud."
Fellow British athlete Reece Prescod, a 100-meter sprinter emerging from retirement for the event, took a similar defensive posture. He noted his unblemished anti-doping record and suggested there was already substantial appetite among retired competitors for the opportunity. "I think people want to join," Prescod said. "There are some that whisper, what's Enhanced like? What's your contract like? There's always that kind of secret inquiry."
Yet Prescod doubted other British athletes would follow his path. "I don't think anyone's brave enough," he said.
Event organizers sought to counter safety concerns by emphasizing technical rigor. Rick Adams, the Enhanced Games' chief sporting officer, highlighted world-class timing systems, elite officiating, and venues meeting Olympic standards. Max Martin, the event's CEO, framed the initiative as inevitable adaptation to a reality already unfolding in secret. "It's not the use of performance-enhancing substances that's dangerous, it's the misuse," Martin argued. "Our approach is not to be naive and pretend it's not happening, but to take what's happening in the shadows, put it in the open, and put the right clinical and medical supervisory framework around it."
The World Anti-Doping Agency rejected this reasoning entirely, calling the Enhanced Games "a dangerous and irresponsible concept." The agency cited documented cases of athletes suffering serious long-term injury or death from prohibited substance use, and the event has drawn universal condemnation from mainstream sporting bodies.
Author James Rodriguez: "Proud and his peers keep insisting they're heroes of transparency, but paying athletes millions to break anti-doping rules on live television and then claiming it's 'safe' is a hard sell that ignores why those rules existed in the first place."
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