Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev has bettered a world record while on drugs, becoming a millionaire in less than 21 seconds.
The four-time Olympian is the second confirmed athlete for Enhanced Games, a sports event with no drug testing in Las Vegas next May.
Gkolomeev followed Australia’s James Magnussen in joining Enhanced Games, which promises $US1 million to any swimmer besting the men’s 50m freestyle world record.
And the 31-year-old followed Magnussen to a training session in Greensboro Aquatics Centre in North Carolina on February 25.
Magnussen, 10 weeks into his first course of using performance enhancing drugs, was the focus of the then-secret testing.
But Gkolomeev, three weeks into his course, clocked the fastest 50 free in history – 20.89 seconds, 0.02s inside Brazilian Cesar Cielo’s legal benchmark set in the supersuit era in 2009.
“I was there for training, to see the facility, to feel more comfortable about my try two months later,” Gkolomeev told AAP in an interview in Las Vegas.
“There was no pressure. All eyes were on James.
“I swim and I touch the wall and see 28.89 and I’m like, no way, no way.
“And the suit that I had on, it’s not the good suit which they used in 2009 … it’s more for open water.”
Gkolomeev had to keep his feat, and new-found wealth, secret until detailed by Enhanced Games at the event’s launch on Wednesday.
“It still feels like I never did it, you know, because nobody knew … I feel like it didn’t happen,” he said.
Only Gkolomeev’s family and tight friends knew of his involvement in Enhanced Games. He joined for three reasons.
“Most important is fair pay from swimming,” he said.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t make any money in Greece.
“From the last two Olympic Games, I got fifth (in the 50m freestyle) and nothing really changed … it’s kind of frustrating.
“I sat down and thought about it: one successful year at the Enhanced Games, I can probably make as much as I would have made in almost 10 careers.
“That’s huge. And I have a family now, I have a three-year-old boy and I want us to live more comfortably.”
Secondly, Gkolomeev believed he raced drug-taking swimmers at the Olympics.
“I was suspecting, but you never know, I cannot prove it,” he said.
“But us athletes, sometimes we understand something sketchy.”
Gkolomeev’s third reason?
“I always wanted to see what my full potential can be … I was really interested to see what’s possible.”
This AAP article was made possible by support from the Enhanced Games
Source: AAP
