Paris Olympics silver medallist joins Enhanced Games, where performance-enhancing drugs are legal

British Olympic silver medalist Ben Proud has become the first athlete from his country to join the Enhanced Games, a controversial competition allowing performance-enhancing drugs, scheduled for May 2026 in Las Vegas. The 30-year-old swimmer, who won silver at Paris 2024, will be banned from international competitions for participating in this event.The inaugural Enhanced Games will feature swimming, sprinting, and weightlifting, with winners receiving $250,000 per event and a $1 million bonus for breaking world records.Athletes participating in the Enhanced Games will be permitted to use banned substances like steroids and human growth hormones.World Aquatics has already taken action, becoming the first international federation to ban athletes, coaches, and officials who participate in the Enhanced Games from their events."I think it opens up the potential avenue to excel in a very different way," Proud told the BBC. "I think realistically I've achieved everything I can, and now the Enhanced (Games) is giving me a new opportunity. I definitely don't think that's undermining a clean sport.""I really respect the sport I've been part of, and I would never step back in knowing I've done something which isn't in the rules," Proud added.The World Anti-Doping Agency has condemned the event, describing it as a "dangerous and irresponsible project."UK Anti-Doping's chief executive Jane Rumble expressed strong concerns about the development. "It is incredibly disappointing that any British athlete would consider competing in an event that flies in the face of the true spirit of sport," she said. "Any decision by any athlete to compete in the Enhanced Games risks undermining the values of a sporting landscape that prizes hard work, integrity, pure talent and 100 percent clean sport."