Advanced Games: Kristian Gokolomiev swam record 50m freestyle time on opening day

Most of the 42 athletes participating used performance-enhancing substances and Enhanced Games said “13 athletes set personal bests”.

The event was played in front of a curated crowd of about 2,500, with tickets not sold to the general public.

On the track, American former world champion Fred Kerley – one of the ‘clean’ competing athletes – won the men’s 100m in 9.97 seconds, just short of his personal best of 9.76.

British swimmer Ben Proud, who won silver in the men’s 50m freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics, won the 50m butterfly with a time of 22.32 seconds, 0.05 seconds off Andrei Govorov’s world record.

“We all know what we’re in for. And it’s a world record,” Garb said.

Another British Olympic swimmer, Emily Barclay, won the women’s 50m freestyle in 24.09, nearly half a second off the world record.

Weightlifter Hafthor ‘Thor’ Bjornsson, who played The Mountain in the TV show Game of Thrones, took another part but was unable to break his own deadlift record of 510kg.

Drugs used in enhanced games must be legal and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

These include testosterone, growth hormones, peptides, anabolic steroids and other substances banned in sports.

Those behind the event argue that enhancement already exists in elite sports, but in secret and without transparency, and say that bringing it out into the open where it can be monitored makes it safer.

Although there are many sports governing bodies Publicly reprimanded Athletes have been banned from competing in the Games and some sports governing bodies have banned athletes from participating.

The IOC and WADA described the extended Games as “unethical” and “a dangerous and irresponsible idea”, while world athletics president Lord Coe said anyone taking part was “stupid”.

The project was founded in 2023 by entrepreneurs Aaron D’Souza and Maximilian Martin and has attracted the backing of prominent investors, including billionaires Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.

Martin predicted the athletes would beat “several” world records in the event.