Billionaires Built a Drug Olympics. The Clean Athletes Won.
put in the work: to spend serious time and effort training, practicing, or preparing to achieve something
In May 2026, a new sports event called the Enhanced Games was held in Las Vegas. Athletes were allowed to use steroids, growth hormones, and other banned drugs.
The plan was to prove that drugs make athletes faster and stronger. Most of the competitors were enhanced. 91 percent used testosterone, 79 percent used growth hormones, and 29 percent were on anabolic steroids. The backers promised a spectacle where superhuman athletes would shatter world records.
But across more than ten events, only one world record was broken. Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev swam the 50-meter freestyle in 20.81 seconds. But even this was not a clear win for the power of doping alone. He wore a special swimsuit that reduces drag in the water and adds extra buoyancy. That suit has been banned in normal swimming for over ten years. The advantage came from the suit, not from the drugs.
Meanwhile, several clean athletes won. American sprinter Fred Kerley won the men’s 100 meters against doped competitors. Tristan Evelyn from Barbados won the women’s race the same way.
Before the event, Kerley had made his thinking clear. “God gave me fast feet for a reason. I’m here to showcase my talent. You still have to work. Drugs aren’t going to give you an advantage if you’re not putting the work in.”
Christian Angermayer, the biotech billionaire behind the Enhanced Games, put in 20 million dollars. But he wasn’t spending all that money for the love of sports. He already sells some of the same drugs to ordinary people. The Enhanced Games were a multi-million dollar advertisement for his business. The commercial backfired. You either put in the work, or you don’t.
Sample sentences
Anyone can dream about running a marathon, but you have to put in the work every morning to actually finish one.
She didn’t get promoted because of luck. She put in the work for five years, and finally people noticed.
He talks a lot about wanting to start a business, but he never puts in the work to actually do it.
Read More
Drug-free sprinter wins Enhanced Games (Upworthy)
The Enhanced Games happened, and the natural athletes won (Futurism)
