LAS VEGAS — The inaugural Enhanced Games competition was held Sunday in Las Vegas, featuring dozens of elite athletes using performance-enhancing drugs to attempt world records in track, weightlifting and swimming. Forty-two athletes competed for a $25 million prize pool, with a $1 million bonus available for world records in certain events.

Drugs used at the Enhanced Games must be legal and approved by the U.S. Federal Drug Administration. Substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, including testosterone and human growth hormone, are encouraged and available for sale at the event. Most competing athletes will use testosterone, and some will use human growth hormone and stimulants like Adderall, while some plan to compete without doping.

The project was founded by entrepreneurs Aron D'Souza and Maximilian Martin in 2023. Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. are among the prominent investors backing the venture. The Enhanced Group began trading on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month, and the event includes opportunities to sell performance-enhancing medicine and supplements on site and online.

Among the competitors, Hafthor Bjornsson, who played the Mountain in the TV series Game of Thrones, sought to break his own deadlift record of 510 kg. British swimmer Ben Proud stands to receive a $1 million bonus if he breaks the world record, or $250,000 if he wins the race without breaking it. Enhanced paid a swimmer $1 million for breaking a record during a trial event ahead of the competition.

"There's no money in sport," Proud said. "I was 30 and had just come off a silver medal, what future path do I follow?" He said it would take 13 years of winning World Championship titles to earn this kind of prize money. Proud won the silver medal in the 50 m freestyle at the Paris Olympics in 2024. GB Aquatics said he will not be selected again for Britain's Olympic team if he competes at the Enhanced Games.

American swimmer Hunter Armstrong plans to compete clean at the Enhanced Games for a shot at the prize money and then return to compete at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. "I definitely don't want to dope for the games. I personally have taken pride in getting as far as I can on natural God-given talent," Armstrong said.

UK Anti-Doping called the Enhanced Games a "reckless venture." Anabolic steroids and growth hormones can cause strokes and cardiovascular damage, according to health experts.

"You don't have to be pressured or use drugs in order to be the best," Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, said. "We don't want kids to have to say, 'in order to win an Olympic medal, when I'm 18 or 20 years old, I have to inject myself every day in the rear end with a potentially dangerous drug.'" Tygart said that as long as an athlete passes doping tests to qualify for the Olympics, there's nothing to stop them from taking part.