Megan Romano announced as first female competitor at 2026 debut of Olympic-style Enhanced Games in Las Vegas.
The Olympic-style sport venture that will run an event next year with no drug testing signed world-champion swimmer Megan Romano as its first female and first US athlete.
The Enhanced Games will debut next May in Las Vegas, featuring swimming, track and weightlifting competitions in an event that will allow athletes to use performance enhancers.
Romano calls competing in the event “an opportunity to push the boundaries of human performance in a transparent and scientifically-backed environment, and to compete on a stage where female athletes are valued and compensated fairly. equally. I believe this is the future of sport.”
The Enhanced Games will offer a prize purse of $500,000 for each event, with $1m bonuses going to anyone who breaks a world record in the 100-metre sprint (track) and 50-metre freestyle (swimming).
Megan Romano, right, and members of the US relay team pose with their gold medals on the podium after winning the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay final during the Short Course Swimming World Championships in 2012 [Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA]
Those marks would not count as “official”, because world records need to be ratified by international federations, which require record-breakers to pass doping tests.
The International Olympic Committee has condemned the concept of the Enhanced Games, saying, “If you want to destroy any concept of fair play and fair competition in sport, this would be a good way to do it.”
But the games have built some momentum and raised money in the “double-digit millions,” according to founder Aron D’Souza.
Four male swimmers, including Olympic medallist James Magnussen of Australia, have committed to the games.
Romano, a standout swimmer at Georgia in college, anchored the US 4×100 freestyle relay team to a gold medal at world championships in 2013.
