Ben Proud, 30, is a 50m freestyle World and European champion, and an Olympic silver medallist. He also became the first man to be crowned European and Commonwealth champion in the same year.
Now, however, despite his successes, the swimmer, who first gained recognition on the international swimming stage at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, has announced he will be joining the controversial Enhanced Games – the first Briton to do so.
In an interview with BBC Sport, Proud said the decision comes ‘at a time in my career where I’m satisfied, I’m happy. I’m ready to step away.’ He added that he does not believe Enhanced Games undermines clean sport, but rather, that it’s ‘a very cutting edge aspect of sport’ and ‘something different’.
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What Are the Enhanced Games?
Launched as a concept in 2023, the Enhanced Games is the brainchild of Australian businessman Aron D’Souza, who, according to his Instagram bio, is ‘on a mission to build a new superhumanity’.
In one post, he says: ‘I’m proud to lead The Enhanced Games – a bold reimagination of global athletics. By challenging outdated rules and embracing safe, supervised enhancement, we aim to push the boundaries of human potential and redefine sports.’
Athletes competing in D’Souza’s Enhanced Games can take some FDA-approved substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which has called the event a ‘dangerous and irresponsible project’.
Proud doesn’t agree. ‘Everything is FDA-approved. Everything’s readily available to the general public. It’s done under very strict supervision from doctors and healthcare professionals, and I will never take anything that I am unsure of,’ he told BBC Sport. ‘They are not allowing anyone to participate if they are under any stress or health risks.’
Planned to be an annual competition, the first Enhanced Games will include short-distance swimming, sprinting and weightlifting and is due to take place in Las Vegas next year, from May 21-24.
As well as the temptation of ‘superhuman’ athletic feats, the financial reward is likely attractive to would-be competitors, too. Athletes are offered appearance fees and bonuses, with Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev receiving $1m (£739,000) for his ‘world record’ 50m freestyle time trial in the US earlier this year.
Proud said he ‘respects the traditional sport for everything it’s done’ and that he would never return having taken a banned substance.
‘The only reason I’ve taken this contract is because I feel really secure with the support system that is put in place,’ he added.
After admitting that he thinks he has done everything he can in the clean version of the sport, Proud also expressed frustration at the way doping had been handled throughout his career. ‘There’ll always be people developing new techniques, or people getting away with things,’ he said.
With the Enhanced Games, Proud said he feels like he’s ‘in the safest hands’ he has been in his career due to the direct supervision from professional doctors.
His announcement has attracted mixed reactions from sports fans, who seem divided by the concept and what it offers both athletes and audiences.
‘The whole idea is a terrible idea, and paying “enhanced athletes” $1m for beating a world record sounds like another nail in clean sport’s coffin & a slippery slope that will not end well, regardless of whether it’s done under very strict supervision from doctors,’ said one commenter on BBC Sport’s announcement.
Another had little belief in the longevity of the Games: ‘Nah – It’ll be over once they run out of money – no-ones watching this stuff and breaking the world record by 0.02 [how much Gkolomeev broke the record by] is hardly going to grab the imagination of the general public (unless they go extreme and add extra arms and stuff!)’
‘From a scientific point of view it’s a fascinating experiment,’ another commenter mused. ‘I’m vehemently opposed to doping in clean sport, but this has said from the start that it isn’t clean sport so I don’t see a moral dilemma here. The IOC & WADA should actually work with the enhanced games to see what the blood work of fully doped unmasked athletes looks like and see if they can tighten their own regimens off of it.’
Sports governing body Aquatics GB has expressed disappointment on social media in Proud’s announcement, and UK Sport added that it ‘condemns everything the Enhanced Games stands for’.
Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Nutrition Writer across Women’s Health UK and Men’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis.
She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity.
A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.
