The Enhanced Games continue to make headlines this week.
Following British Olympic medalist Ben Proud‘s announcement that he’s joining the controversial Games, Australian champion Kyle Chalmers was also reportedly approached by the event’s organizers regarding joining up for its inaugural meet slated for next summer.
According to journalist Tom Decent, 27-year-old Chalmers recently turned down a three-year contract offer to the tune of US$1.08 million ($1.6m) to defect to the Enhanced Games.
Decent wrote that Chalmers was secretly approached by organizers not only to compete at next year’s event in Las Vegas, but also to become an ambassador for the competition. (The Age)
All told with bonuses, Chalmers stood to earn an estimated US$2.54 million ($3.8m).
However, the South Aussie’s manager, Phoebe Rothfield of W Sports & Media, said her client was focused on reaching a fourth Olympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles. (The Age)
“It is life-changing money for a swimmer – or any Australian Olympic athlete, for that matter,” Rothfield said. “It could have set him and his young family up and helped with the mortgage, but Kyle said no from the onset. It was a brief discussion.
“What drives him is competing for his country, standing on the podium in the green and gold and doing the sport because he loves it.” (The Age)
For Proud’s part, the 30-year-old men’s 50m free silver medalist from Paris last year said it would take him “13 years of winning a World Championship title” in order to earn the same amount of money that’s up for grabs at the Enhanced Games, which is offering $500,000 for an event win and $1 million for breaking the world record in either the 50-meter freestyle or 100-meter dash.
Proud was the latest accomplished swimmer to sign on with the Enhanced Games, joining male sprinters Kristian Gkolomeev, James Magnussen, Andrii Govorov and Josif Miladinov, while American Megan Romano became the first female to join the organization in early August.
Chalmers, who became a first-time dad last month, has been consistent in saying his career representing Australia is far from over.
In June, the sprinter stated, “The new 50s format (with all the form strokes now on the Olympic program) will keep me swimming until Brisbane 2032. I am in the very best position I’ve been in a very long time. My body is feeling good.
“And I’ve been swimming some really fast times. I can see myself swimming until Brisbane 2032 … and by then our little girl will be seven years old, so that would be pretty cool.”
This summer in Singapore, Chalmers earned silver in the men’s 100m freestyle and produced a heroic anchor to help the green and gold top the men’s 4x100m free relay podium.
As the Enhanced Games are a multi-sport affair, it’s worth noting that suspended track star Fred Kerley of the United States has also signed on for the event.
30-year-old Kerley, a two-time Olympic medalist in the men’s 100-meter dash, is currently provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit for whereabouts failures over the past year.
On his participation in the Enhanced Games, Kerley stated,
“This now gives me the opportunity to dedicate all my energy to pushing my limits and becoming the fastest human to ever live.” (ESPN)
“for 50 million…i’ll go to hell”
Where is all this money coming from?
Billionaires
You do realize that evil tech bro Peter Thiel has a net worth of over 20 billion USD, right?
If you scroll down, some people have asked the same question, and I answered:
Peter Thiel is the main financier and he is the one who bankrupted Gawker and is a multi billionaires and funding backer of president Taco. He is a tech billionaire supervillain.
Thiel’s company, Palantir is getting multi billion contract from US federal government to maintain database and surveillance of every US citizen.
I’m thoroughly flabbergasted that Americans are cool with it.
thiel will get bored, like all billionaires do, soon enough, and it will be over.
So the Enhanced Games will have a swim meet with 6 or 7 large sacks of meat swimming 50s? Wow, where do I subscribe to watch?
$2.54M USD could have “helped with the mortgage”??
That made me laugh too!
King Kyle strikes again.
A) despite being from USA and enjoying the Australian rivalry, I will now cheer for Chalmers; B) you couldn’t pay me to watch the EG, this is an SNL skit from the 90s come to life; C) Kerley, Proud, and Magnussen are dead to me; D) on behalf of rational, civilized Americans, I apologize to the world for the sadists here who are intent on destroying everything good.
I don’t want enhanced to win but if world aquatics don’t acknowledge they’re fucked & make immediate drastic generational changes it’s over
Oh Kurt. Always playing both sides of the coin. Guess that’s why you keep getting gigs.
It’s weird that you’ve been so supportive of Enhanced Games bros on social media, and then come here saying you don’t want them to win. Don’t let Ben and Brett Hawke see this comment! (full name included because you just know he googles himself lmao).
how dare i acknowledge ben proud’s career
In the sports newspaper L’ÉQUIPE, reader yayoo5 asks the right question: “Will there be tests to verify that they are doped?”