Andriy Govorov, a 50m butterfly world record-holder, describes taking banned performance-enhancing drugs for the first time, including injections that caused anxiety and discomfort. He is competing in the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, an event that permits anabolic steroids, testosterone, and human growth hormone, which are prohibited in elite sport. The competition has been labeled the “Steroid Olympics” and offers substantial financial rewards, with Govorov potentially earning around $1m. The event includes 42 athletes across swimming, athletics, and weightlifting, many of whom are Olympians, such as Ben Proud and Fred Kerley. Traditional sports regulators and the World Anti-Doping Agency condemn the event as dangerous.
"“I was anxious, to be honest,” says Andriy Govorov, the 50m butterfly world record-holder. “Because there's no way back.” The 34-year-old Ukrainian points to his backside. That is where the first needle carrying performance-enhancing drugs went into his body. Then to his stomach. That one hurt less. “I don't like needles being stuck in me,” Govorov says. “When I was younger, I would pass out when I had blood tests.”"
"But Govorov is being mightily rewarded for signing up for the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas this Sunday. The event has been called the Steroid Olympics, because it allows athletes to use anabolic steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone, which are outlawed in elite sport. But the rewards are great for those involved. If all goes well, Govorov could end up around $1m richer. Yet he is far from alone in chasing riches in the desert."
"There are 42 athletes competing in the Enhanced Games, in swimming, athletics and weightlifting, of whom around half are Olympians. They include Britain's Ben Proud, who won a 50m freestyle swimming silver medal at the Paris Games, and Fred Kerley, the 2022 world 100m champion and Paris 2024 bronze medallist. Proud is on a mid-six-figure salary with Enhanced. If he were to win the 50m and 100m freestyle, and swim faster than the current world records, he could walk away with another $2.5m."
"Yet the idea of an event that trumpets the use of banned drugs has appalled traditional sports and the bodies that regulate them. The World Anti-Doping Agency, for instance, calls it a dangerous"
Read at www.theguardian.com
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