Enhanced Games
- Sunday, May 24, 2026
- Enhanced Games Competition Complex, Resorts World, Las Vegas, NV
- LCM (50 Meters)
- Live Stream: YouTube, Roku, Rumble, Twitch, Kick
- Live Recap
Now that the Enhanced Games are wrapped up, one of the biggest draws of the event was the money that was on the line. According to the Enhanced Games site, in total, the event paid out $6.6 million to its athletes, with the event’s highest earner coming in the pool; as Kristian Gkolomeev won $500,000 for winning a pair of events, and another $1 million for besting the 50-meter freestyle world record in 20.81.
Gkolomeev could have added another quarter of a million to his payday in the 100 free, narrowly missing the 46.40 world record in 46.60 after backing off just a bit late in the race to save himself for the bigger record payout in the 50 free.
Among other big-money winners was American Cody Miller, who won both the 50 and 100 breaststroke races, earning a life-changing half-million dollars.
Four swimmers each brought home a whopping $375,000 in earnings by winning an event and finishing runner-up in another: those being Hunter Armstrong (1st in the 50 back, 2nd in the 100 free), Megan Romano (1st in the 100 free, 2nd in the 50 free), Emily Barclay (1st in the 50 free, 2nd in the 100 free), and Ben Proud (1st in the 50 fly, 2nd in the 50 free).
As for the lower-end earners, three swimmers finished 4th, the lowest place you could finish, in both of their races. Among those three was James Magnussen, the Enhanced Games’ first athlete, who was wearing a special gold supersuit to represent that ‘first enhanced athlete’, and finished in a clear 4th in both the 50 and 100 free events. Though despite the low finishes, he still came away with $100,000 in winnings.
For a refresher on how the money works, here is a table that paints the picture.
Prize Money Breakdown (Swimming):
- 1st Place: $250,000
- 2nd Place: $125,000
- 3rd Place: $75,000
- 4th Place: $50,000
- World Record Bonus: $250,000
- 50 Free World Record Bonus: $1 Million
Full Earnings Table for Enhanced Games Swimmers:
| Swimmer | Money Earned | WR Bonus | 1st Place Finish | 2nd Place Finish | 3rd Place Finish | 4th Place Finish |
| $1,500,000 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cody Miller | $500,000 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| $375,000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Megan Romano | $375,000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Emily Barclay | $375,000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Proud | $375,000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Marius Kusch | $315,000 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Shane Ryan | $200,000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Evgenii Somov | $200,000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Felipe Lima | $200,000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Andrii Govorov | $200,000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Antani Ivanov | $175,000 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Isabella Arcila | $150,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Shoib Khaled | $125,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Max McCusker | $125,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Miguel De Lara | $100,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
Natalia Fryckowska
|
$100,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| $100,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Fascinating POV, Cody will likely only take home approximately $350K after taxes. Non-US athletes are also subject to a 30% tax, so Gkolomeev will take home a little over a million.
The government wins again. And this is just a business expense for Peter Thiel, who evades taxes.
All of this to market a product who lost almost a billion in market cap valuation.
It’s extremely funny to me that the PR angle of this event went from “world records will be set!” To “Look! This old guy went a PB!” Cody posted again: “at the EH swimming had 19 PBs, mostly from retired athletes. We’re just getting started!!” do people really want to keep tuning in to watch washed up athletes go pedestrian times?
That could be entirely due to the rubber suits.
I haven’t double checked but that none of the track athletes set a PR is really all you need to know about them protocols.
Poll:
Downvote if you’d rather see past their prime elite athletes dope up and go PBs
Upvote if you’d rather see mediocre athletes dope up and go near-best times
I think a reality show culminating in a live final event ala The Biggest Loser would’ve been the better marketing and entertainment product.
I’d rather see Kyle set WR in jeans
I second this
Ben Proud did an interview and said how whatever he was on (“Protocol”) made him gain too much muscle too fast and slowed him down, and they had to pivot.
I saw that on an EG produced video mostly focusing on him and partially on his girlfriend.
Just the way they talk about “setting world records” makes me insanely mad, biggest takeaway from the video
It’s the clear reality that ‘the protocol’ isn’t actually optimized for elite sports performance. It’s optimized for looksmaxxing and similar.
it seems like they’re ‘roiding up all of the athletes, regardless of the sport
“Torri Huske Leads Prize Money Earners With $8.5K At Sacramento Pro Swim Series” and people wonder why swimmers are switching to the enhanced games. Cody Miller made more money at one meet than his entire swimming career.
USA Swimming and World Aquatics need to do better. The athletes need to participate in that process. We all agree on that.
But like I wrote in my editorial – nobody is wondering why swimmers are switching to the Enhanced Games. We all know it’s the money. But no, Cody Miller didn’t make more money at one meet than his entire swimming career. That’s just objectively false, especially if you look at it holistically.
EGs prize money isn’t prize money it’s functionally endorsement money, so a holistic look is the way you have to view it.
Is Cody Miller is mogging or JesterMaxxing in that pic?
Whatever I think about this meet, I’m glad the athletes are getting paid. It’s easy to criticize these athletes but what would you do if $500,000 or one million was put in front of your face? All of you would get off your high horses very quick.
Actually, your comment is quite insulting and says more about you.
Hypocrite LOL
Phil, I think a psychologist would categorize your last sentence as “projecting”. You’re assuming everyone would take the money because that’s the choice *you* would make. And you may very well be right–I don’t know how I would respond if I were put in the same situation. But I think it’s fair to be critical of an event backed by the likes of Peter Thiel and Trump, Jr. with the explicit goal of demonstrating the “value” of their pseudo-scientific peptides through these athletic charades, and question whether the financial windfall you would stand to make is worth the implicit support for the company signing the check.
Agree the meet itself deserves all the criticism and this may be the last time we see it. But I can’t fault the swimmers, most who will not have a chance of making the Olympic team for taking this opportunity. Not everyone is Phelps or ledecky and can make a lucrative living.
These swimmers should take the skills they learned in the sport and apply them in the real world and make a living AT SOMETHING ELSE (gasp!). Most if not all actually DO have college degrees. There’s more than one way to make a “lucrative living.”
I would suit up, take steroids, AND go 2 seconds slower than my PR if I got half a million dollars for it
nice day of work if you can get it!
The next event is going to be whether they actually pay.