Abby Labar reports Abu Dhabi training ahead of May 24 Las Vegas Enhanced Games
abby labar has athletes for the Enhanced Games training in Abu Dhabi as the controversial event moves toward its May 24 competition in Las Vegas. Ben Proud, a 31-year-old British swimmer and Olympian, said the group is staying at the Erth hotel while missile alerts keep interrupting the backdrop outside.
Proud said he was watching Emirati defenses intercept Iranian missiles from Abu Dhabi, and that his phone dings each time one is incoming. He also said, “Just outside this window, here’s the US base that they’re targeting,” and added, “This building used to be an air force base, so it’s very sturdy.”
Erth hotel and 12 weeks
The athletes are spending 12 weeks doing workouts and supervised PEDs at a five-star Emirati resort. Doctors in Abu Dhabi would compose individualized enhancement drug concoctions for Proud and the other athletes, with the mix including testosterone, anabolic steroids, HGH, EPO, hormone and metabolic modulators, and stimulants like Adderall.
The Enhanced Games says athletes cannot share exactly what they are taking because of an ongoing clinical trial. That leaves the training camp operating as both preparation and controlled experiment, with the public learning only the broad drug categories while the details stay inside the program.
Kristian Gkolomeev prize
One year ago, the Enhanced Games paid Kristian Gkolomeev $1 million to break the then men’s 50-meter freestyle world record. The 32-year-old Bulgarian-born, Greek-raised swimmer did it with performance-enhancing drugs and a banned full-body polyurethane supersuit, then described the money in blunt terms: “I was swimming my whole life, and I haven’t made any money,” and “I would’ve needed around 10 careers.”
The payout structure is the real business model here: $1 million for a world record, $250,000 to win a race, paid-appearance opportunities, and a base salary in the mid to high six figures. Aron D’Souza has also said, “I can show you a book of headlines from June of 2023,” including, “My favorite one is from The Spectator: ‘Why the Enhanced Games Won’t Work.’”
Las Vegas on May 24
The May 24 Las Vegas event now has a live training camp, a prize structure, and a drug protocol in motion, which puts the Enhanced Games past the stage of manifesto and into execution. Proud’s hotel-room view makes the oddity plain: a swimmer preparing for a competition built around enhancement drugs while missile interceptions flash nearby and a former air force base serves as his base of operations.
For readers following the project, the immediate takeaway is simple: the event is no longer just an idea or a headline about controversy. Athletes are in Abu Dhabi, the incentives are fixed, and the first real test comes when Las Vegas opens on May 24.
