FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Swimming - Men's 50m Freestyle Final - Paris La Defense Arena, Nanterre, France - August 02, 2024. Cameron McEvoy of Australia celebrates after winning gold. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Olympic 50 metres freestyle champion Cam McEvoy thinks the record time claimed by Kristian Gkolomeev as part of the Enhanced Games programme, where swimmers are allowed to use banned drugs, is irrelevant to the sport.
Enhanced Games organisers announced on Wednesday that Greek Gkolomeev swam the 50m freestyle in 20.89 seconds in February, going faster than Brazilian Cesar Cielo's 2009 world record time of 20.91 and McEvoy's personal best of 21.06.
The Australian sprint champion, however, said the fact that Gkolomeev was not only doping but also wearing a body suit of the type banned by World Aquatics in 2010 rendered his time meaningless.
"It doesn't count in any way, shape or form when you take drugs or wear one of the banned suits, or both," McEvoy told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"It's got no relevance to Olympic or World Championship 50-metre comps, or to the international rankings around them."
World Aquatics has joined the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in condemning the Enhanced Games, describing the organisation as a "circus, built on short-cuts" in statement released after Wednesday's announcement.
Like those bodies, McEvoy said he was concerned about the long-term effects of taking banned substances on the health of swimmers.
"I understand there are some measures being put in place around the safety of those athletes throughout this process," he told the newspaper.
"But there are long-term negative health effects associated with maximised (performance-enhancing drugs) and further still, a lot of unknowns around just how serious those effects are.
"Humans in the past have underestimated what they don't yet fully understand. For example, a quick look at the early misuse of radioactive materials serves as a warning.
"I am by no means an expert, but it seems unwise to think that in this context the prioritisation of performance over safety is immune to this same hubris."
The Enhanced Games will hold their inaugural competition in Las Vegas in May next year with swimming, athletics and weightlifting on the schedule.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Shri Navaratnam)
