James Magnussen transforms his body on drugs, before $1m Enhanced Games blow
Aussie Olympian James Magnussen declared he would “juice to the gills” and break a world record - he just watched $1m go up in smoke.
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James Magnussen has watched $1m go up in smoke after “juicing to the gills” and transforming his body for the Enhanced Games.
Magnussen, who has been retired for six years, has been taking a concoction of testosterone and peptides, among other substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to try and break the 50m freestyle world record.
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But the 34-year-old Aussie Olympian - better known as the Missile - revealed he recently watched his $1m dream dashed while he was on the massage table, as rival swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev – aided by undisclosed substances and a polyurethane suit not approved for Olympic use – broke the world record at an Enhanced Games competition pool in North Carolina in February.
You can watch Gkolomeev breaking the 50m world record in the player at the top of the page.
The Greek swimmer, who has his sights also set on the ‘Steroid Olympics’, beat the 20.91-second world record set by Cesar Cielo to snare the US$1m (A$1.56m) prize dangled by Enhanced Games organisers to promote their controversial competition.
“I looked out the door (while getting a massage) and heard the starter gun go off,” Magnussen told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I was probably at the 35-metre mark when I saw Kristian go past. He was absolutely flying. I was like, ‘Holy shit, that’s fast’.
“I looked up, and it was 20.89. It was bizarre. People were running into rooms everywhere. Kristian had broken the world record. It was crazy.”
A documentary crew, who many believed were only there to witness Magnussen shattering the elusive record, instead captured 31-year-old Gkolomeev’s incredible swim resulting in a $1m windfall, just months after he competed in the final of the same event at the Paris Games.
But Magnussen will get another chance to claim the $1m payday he so craves at the inaugural Enhanced Games next year.
Enhanced Games founder Aron D’Souza says the million-dollar prize was still on the table at the official Enhanced Games, which will take place from May 21-24 next year at Resorts World Las Vegas, with events in swimming, athletics, and weightlifting.
Magnussen famously announced his mission to “juice to the gills” and win the $1m cash prize by breaking the 50m world record on performance enhancing drugs while appearing on the Hello Sport Podcast.
“If they came to the party with $1 million for the [50m freestyle] world record, I would 100 per cent do it,” Magnussen said in February.
You can watch Magnussen’s comments on his world record bid in the player above
And Magnussen, who reconfirmed his desire to try to break the world record, recently called on fellow Aussie Cam McEvoy, a clean athlete, to join him at next year’s inaugural Enhanced Games.
“If I was Cam and I was going to be able to put a suit on and race for $US1 million – plus be paid as an athlete – for me it would be a no-brainer,” Magnussen said in an interview with The Age.
“I get it. The Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport at the moment and it’s what we all strive towards. At this point for Cam, he sees it like a sideshow. People will realise that Enhanced Games is the real deal. It’s happening. It’s not just hypothetical. The money’s there. There will be a flood of athletes coming over in year two.”
McEvoy, the 50m gold medallist in Paris, has a best time of 21.06.
Around 100 athletes are expected to compete at the inaugural event next year, with many competitors’ names kept secret until closer to the event.
The Enhanced Games plans to pay $US250,000 for each gold medal and $US1 million to anyone who breaks a world record in the 100m sprint or the 50m freestyle.
The Games will have four swimming events, the 50m and 100m freestyle and the 50m and 100m butterfly.
While in athletics there will be the 100m sprint and 100m hurdles.
Athletes can choose to remain “natural” or enhance their performance with substances – under the watchful eye of Enhanced Games medical staff.
“The Enhanced Games welcomes athletes across three categories: natural athletes, independently enhanced athletes, and athletes enhanced through protocols designed and supervised by our medical team,” Aron D’Souza said in a statement announcing the Games on Thursday (AEST).
“We live in a world transformed by science – from vaccines to AI. But sport has stood still. Until today.
“We are not updating the rule book. We are re-writing it. And we’re doing it safely, ethically, and boldly.”
Olympic gold eluded James Magnussen despite incredible raw talent
Magnussen’s ascent began at the 2010 Australian Swimming Championships where his third-placed finish in the 100m freestyle scored him a spot on the national team as a teenager.
Later that year, he was part of Australia’s gold medal 4×100m freestyle relay team at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, with his blistering speed earning him“The Missile” nickname.
His major individual breakthrough then came at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, where he became the first Australian man to win the 100m freestyle world title, clocking 47.63 seconds.
He also secured gold in the 4×100m freestyle relay and silver in the 4×100m medley relay.
Magnussen was a big favourite heading into the 2012 London Olympics but he missed gold by 0.01 seconds, with American Nathan Adrian claiming gold.
In 2013, he defended his 100m freestyle world title in Barcelona, reaffirming his dominance in the event.
From there, however, his career was stunted by several shoulder injuries.
But despite that he still managed to claim medals at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
However, the troublesome shoulder led him to cut his career short at the age of just 28 in 2019.
He then stunned fans last year by announcing his intention to break the elusive world record, with the help of banned substances, at the Enhanced Games.
Originally published as James Magnussen transforms his body on drugs, before $1m Enhanced Games blow
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