Oh, the delicious irony.
Those who support honesty, an even playing field, and fair play in sports may be laughing today. It turns out that the Enhanced Group Inc. (NYSE: ENHA), the parent company and organizers of the inaugural Enhanced Games, saw its shares plummet by 43 percent on Tuesday. This follows its troubled debut event in Las Vegas. The devaluation wiped out approximately $800 million in market value.
This will hurt in a deep and meaningful way.
While the marketing and communications coming out of the games report, “history was made,” is true, it was not on the playing fields or pools.
No records will count, including Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev’s 50m freestyle “world record.”
But the irony is in the financial losses
The initial suit requested up to $800 million in damages.
The case was dismissed as a federal judge tossed the lawsuit. After careful consideration, the organization decided not to pursue further litigation to avoid the financial risks of such a frivolous case.
Athletes competed for high-stakes purses funded by venture capital firms, including a company named 1789 Capital. Meanwhile, the event went ahead, despite the fact that the governing bodies of sports refused to recognize any results and records.
Press release
Factory PR, the marketing and communications company hired to spread the great news about the Enhanced Games’ successes, sent out the following press release on Tuesday.
“History was made at the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, when Olympian Kristian Gkolomeev of Greece broke the men’s 50m freestyle world record by 0.07 seconds, clocking 20.81 and surpassing Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 record at the China Open. The feat followed months of training in Dubai, all of which was captured on the Games’ official social platform partner, ZOOP.
“Notable guests, including Diplo, actress Dascha Polanco from the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black,” sports creator and host Victoria Brito, and popular TikTokers Yudy Pulido and Rico Alvarez, were in attendance, walking the signature Blue Carpet and documenting their experience firsthand on ZOOP.
“Guests enjoyed a premium suite experience at the stadium with close-up views of the athletes in competition, while also engaging with athletes and creators at the Games through the ZOOP platform, including Gkolomeev.
List of full notable attendees:
Dascha Polanco, Actress, 2.8M
Diplo, DJ, 6.5M
Victoria Brito, Influencer, 2.3M
Yudy Pulido, Influencer, 692K
Rico Alvarez, Influencer, 417K”
The disaster
The games took place on May 24 at Resorts World in Las Vegas. The poorly conceived concept promoted an event where athletes are allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision. The results were apparently pathetic as investors and fans were left underwhelmed. Only one world record was broken during the event, which was a result that was recorded by an enhanced swimmer wearing the banned full-body suit. The results will count for nothing. It would be akin to a 2:12 marathon runner, racing off the side of a mountain to a 1:58:29.
Apparently, the event was also plagued by livestream and technical difficulties.
It must have killed the promoters to see American 100m sprinter Fred Kerley run a mediocre 9.97-second performance, after bragging that he would break Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record. Meanwhile, Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala ran a 9.94-second 100m the day prior in Xiamen, China, during the second Diamond League meet of the season.
Omanyala was previously caught doping. He served a 14-month suspension that began in 2017.
The suspension was handed down after a test returned an adverse finding for the glucocorticoid betamethasone, which Omanyala explained was the result of a painkiller he was prescribed while being treated for a back injury.
Some race directors bring up the ban when deciding invitations for events like the Diamond League, but he has long since served the penalty and returned to international competition.
The irony is rich; some stories just write themselves.
