With the inaugural Enhanced Games set for May 24 at Resorts World Las Vegas, sprinters Shania Collins and Fred Kerley, and swimmer Ben Proud—joined by Olympic champion Hunter Armstrong—have rejected the “Doping Olympics” label. They say the event is medically
For the athletes stepping onto the custom-built venue at Resorts World Las Vegas on Sunday, the label hurts—but the pay reality hurts more.
As the inaugural Enhanced Games arrive on May 24, organisers have billed it as a landmark moment in sport’s history. Critics have branded it the “Doping Olympics.” The World Anti-Doping Agency has condemned it as a “dangerous and irresponsible concept. ” while governing bodies including World Aquatics and Aquatics GB have also distanced themselves from the event.
Yet the athletes defending their place at the competition sounded less like they were trying to win an argument and more like they were tired of being ignored. Shania Collins, an American sprinter speaking on Friday afternoon, said the pushback around fair play is built on a misunderstanding.
“There’s been a lot of pushback and a lot of condemnation. especially when it comes to the integrity of fair play. ” Collins said. “I’d say that this is completely different. I think that people need to open their eyes and see what is in sport already. We’re being upfront, honest, and transparent from the start.”.
Collins framed the event as a straight disclosure rather than a secretive advantage. “We are saying we are taking performance-enhancing drugs. So how could you challenge our integrity when we’re coming forward and forthright with the information – versus some of your favourites who say they’re clean when they’re really not?”.
She retired from professional athletics partly because she felt she was competing against athletes who weren’t clean. and her sense of injustice—paired with the harsh economics of elite sport—helped pull her toward the Games. “I felt like it was unfair. I was lining up against girls who I knew weren’t clean in the sport. and I was doing my absolute best. ” Collins said. “I was trying my hardest.”.
In her account, the Enhanced Games offered something mainstream sport often doesn’t: money that changes the future. Prize money on offer includes $1 million for breaking world records. a figure she said dwarfs what many Olympic-level athletes earn across entire careers. “In our sport, it’s known that we don’t get paid or compensated well at all,” Collins said. “When Enhanced came to me and I realised that those things overlapped – that we would be paid financially well and we would shed light on PEDs – I was like. those are two of the reasons why I retired. I’d love to be a part of this.”.
Ben Proud, a British swimmer who has spent a ten-year stretch as a regular in world championship 50m butterfly finals, said the financial gap became impossible to ignore. He also pointed to the $1 million prize fund as a direct reason for joining.
Asked bluntly whether he was doing this for money or for proving a point, Proud didn’t separate the two. “It’s about the money. I don’t think I’ve got anything to prove. This is my stepping stone – my benchmark swim for the next three years.”
Fred Kerley, the American sprinter, added another layer to the motivation: the fragility of careers and income. He said he knows a man who won a silver medal at the Olympic Games and then saw his contract cut soon after.
“So, now, I’ve got a base salary. And they treat us right, we’ve got medical care and all that stuff around us. So I don’t stress over the income, it’s already there. I can just chill, perform, and enjoy doing what something I love to do,” Kerley said.
For athletes carrying families and working against limited earning windows. the financial promise isn’t a side detail—it is a deciding factor. Hunter Armstrong. the American star who won Olympic gold in the 4x100m medley relay at Paris 2024. is competing without taking any performance-enhancing substances. insisting his choice is non-negotiable because his ambition is to compete at the LA 2028 Games.
Armstrong was candid about what still drew him to Enhanced. “I want to take advantage of this amazing opportunity for myself, my family, my future,” he said. “And I want to do it the right way so that I can continue to represent at the highest level.”
He also made clear he sees his participation as different from an attack on existing governing structures. “This was not a protest, or a ‘gotcha,’” Armstrong said. “I have very good relationships within World Aquatics and USA Swimming. and that’s a lot of why I wanted to continue to compete and represent my country in 2028.”.
That distinction matters because the event’s whole premise—allowing athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision—has been condemned by multiple bodies. The Enhanced Games’ co-founder Christian Angermayer has backed the venture. which is set to take place in Las Vegas on May 24. at a custom-built venue. The event has also been framed as a bid to reshape sport, not merely disrupt it.
Athletes say the way it’s run is the point. Proud described physical changes that he said were impossible to ignore, based on his own experience. “As a 15-year clean athlete, you have to work so hard for these things,” he said. “Things come easy now. Nothing has changed about training. but things come much. much easier.” He added that the experience reshaped his expectations: “I’ve realised how much it’s absolutely changed. and I’m taking that into my next cycle with almost enthusiasm. I can’t wait to reapply what I’ve learned to my future training.”.
Collins spoke about the start of her own cycle as something far more personal than a headline. She said her first injection brought genuine anxiety because it crossed a line she’d never been through before. “I was very nervous. I had a lot of anxiety because it’s the unknown and a line I’d never crossed before. ” she said. “But I had the whole team around us and we had extensive meetings on the risks. The nerves eased the more I met with the doctors.”.
Both athletes reported mostly positive effects. Collins cited increased strength, faster recovery and improved mental clarity, with minor negatives such as acne and hair growth. Proud reported water retention but said nothing more serious. adding that he had been monitored by leading doctors in Abu Dhabi.
Even so, the athletes were careful about one of the hardest questions hanging over the event: whether it could normalize drug use among younger athletes. Armstrong was the most cautious of the three.
“That would be a concern of mine. I definitely do not want to see any unsafe procedures or enhancements, especially at a young age,” he said. Proud agreed, saying he would not advise young people to enhance. “This is me. a 31-year-old who’s been through swimming. who has seen there’s no financial reward. and who sees a fantastic opportunity for me and my family at a time when I was considering retirement.”.
Collins took a slightly different stance on the danger issue. arguing that enhancement doesn’t have to be reckless if it is done with proper medical support. She said the Games’ approach—extensive MRI. heart and brain scans before any substances were administered—was the model she would advocate others follow.
“If it’s something you’re comfortable with, if you feel like it could help you, ask the right doctors, find out the right information, and if it’s smart for you, I would say 100 percent,” Collins said.
When the conversation turned to records. all three drew a careful line between what might be achieved in Las Vegas and what counts in mainstream competition. Collins said she understood why people might think world records wouldn’t count. “I don’t think we’re saying this is the new standard that everyone should hold,” she said. “But I think it would shed light on what we can do if PEDs were introduced to sport – what more could the human body achieve?”.
Proud said enhanced marks would stand in a separate category in swimming. “In our world they’re the world records,” he said. “In the swimming world, they’ll be the enhanced world records. They’re two very, very different things. But this is the first stepping stone – going after what Enhanced is after, which is peak human potential.”.
Armstrong described the event more theatrically than scientifically, leaning into the idea that sport is built to be watched. “This is, first and foremost, a show. Sports is entertainment. Being a theatre kid at heart, I like to put on a show, I like to make people smile. I think Enhanced Games really wants to bring new life to sport.”.
Across the athletes, a common thread cut through the controversy. Some defended the Games as transparent and medically supervised; some described the physical changes they experienced; all insisted the opportunity—especially the $1 million prize for world records—speaks directly to the pay crisis that pushes elite careers toward the edge of retirement. At a time when mainstream sport often talks about integrity. Collins. Proud and Kerley spoke about a different kind of fairness: the right to earn enough to plan a life.
Enhanced Games Shania Collins Ben Proud Fred Kerley Hunter Armstrong Resorts World Las Vegas doping Olympics World Anti-Doping Agency World Aquatics Aquatics GB performance-enhancing drugs medical supervision $1 million prize LA 2028 Paris 2024