‘It doesn't count when you take drugs': McEvoy slams Enhanced Games
Cam McEvoy, the fastest man in the world through water, has warned of the potential long-term health risks of performance-enhancing drugs after being challenged by former teammate James Magnussen to compete in the controversial Enhanced Games.
McEvoy, who won gold for Australia in the 50m freestyle at last year's Paris Olympics, said he was concerned by what the proposed competition stands for and what it could do to those who take part.
'It doesn't count in any way, shape or form when you take drugs or wear one of the banned suits, or both,' McEvoy told this masthead.
'It's got no relevance to Olympic or World Championship 50-metre comps, or to the international rankings around them.'
McEvoy's comments come as World Aquatics branded the Enhanced Games a 'circus' and the Australian Olympic Committee distanced itself from the event, which will debut in Las Vegas next May and feature swimming, athletics and weightlifting.
The Enhanced Games will allow clean athletes to compete alongside those using performance-enhancing substances in pursuit of world records and financial prizes.
'If I was Cam, and I was going to be able to put a suit on and race for $US1 million [$1.56 million] – plus be paid as an athlete – for me, it would be a no-brainer,' Magnussen said.
'At this point for Cam, he sees it like a sideshow. If you stayed in the testing pool the whole time [by continually agreeing to take drug tests], then it shouldn't be an issue. It seems like a free hit.'
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Perth Now
37 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Tom Daley reveals whether he and husband Dustin Lance Black are planning to expand their family
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The Advertiser
41 minutes ago
- The Advertiser
Aussie Adcock leaps to gold in Diamond League meet
Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. 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The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. National record-holder Oliver Hoare aso qualified for the 2025 world championships, clocking 3:31.15 in the 1500m to finish ninth. The Commonwealth champion bided his time at the back of the field in the patiently-run race, mustering a finishing burst to move up the rankings and finish well under the 3:33.00 qualifying standard. Meanwhile, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women's 5000m world record when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay's 1997 world mark of 14:00.21. Chebet also recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women's 3000m - running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia's 8:06.11 set in 1993. Jamaica's Andrenette Knight dominated the women's 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women's 200m in 22.53 seconds. The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. National record-holder Oliver Hoare aso qualified for the 2025 world championships, clocking 3:31.15 in the 1500m to finish ninth. The Commonwealth champion bided his time at the back of the field in the patiently-run race, mustering a finishing burst to move up the rankings and finish well under the 3:33.00 qualifying standard. Meanwhile, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women's 5000m world record when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay's 1997 world mark of 14:00.21. Chebet also recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women's 3000m - running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia's 8:06.11 set in 1993. Jamaica's Andrenette Knight dominated the women's 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women's 200m in 22.53 seconds. The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. National record-holder Oliver Hoare aso qualified for the 2025 world championships, clocking 3:31.15 in the 1500m to finish ninth. The Commonwealth champion bided his time at the back of the field in the patiently-run race, mustering a finishing burst to move up the rankings and finish well under the 3:33.00 qualifying standard. Meanwhile, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women's 5000m world record when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay's 1997 world mark of 14:00.21. Chebet also recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women's 3000m - running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia's 8:06.11 set in 1993. Jamaica's Andrenette Knight dominated the women's 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women's 200m in 22.53 seconds. The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Simone Biles calls Riley Gaines 'sick' following comments about high school team with trans player
Olympic champion Simone Biles has labelled former US swimmer and political activist Riley Gaines as "sick" and a "sore loser", following a social media post about a high school softball team. Biles, the winner of 11 Olympic medals in gymnastics, including seven gold, responded to a post from Gaines where the former college swimmer mocked moderators for turning comments off the social media platform X when announcing the champions of a high school softball competition. The account for the Minnesota State High School League posted a picture of the Chaplin Park girls' team celebrating their win of the Class AAAA state championship. Chaplin Park has a trans player on their team. "Comments off lol … To be expected when your star player is a boy," Gaines wrote on X. Gaines has been outspoken against trans athletes competing in women's and girls' sports, after she tied fifth with trans athlete Lia Thomas in the 200-metre freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Swimming Championships. On Saturday, AEST, Biles responded to Gaines's comments on the high school picture and said the former college swimmer bullied people because she "lost a race". "You're truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser," Biles wrote. "You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports. "But instead … You bully them … One thing's for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around." Biles has been a strong advocate for the safety of athletes, especially around mental health. Gaines responded to Biles by accusing her of helping "men stealing championships in women's sports". "This is actually so disappointing. It's not my job or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men in our spaces," Gaines wrote. "You can uplift men stealing championships in women's sports with YOUR platform. "Men don't belong in women's sports and I say that with my full chest." Gaines has become a fierce advocate of trans athletes not being allowed to compete against women and girls. She was at the White House in February when US President Donald Trump signed an executive order excluding transgender girls and women from female sports. After the president's order, Gaines described herself as feeling "cheated, betrayed, and violated" for competing against Thomas during her college swimming career. "I wish I could've told the girl in this photo what was to come in 2025. She felt cheated, betrayed, and violated," she wrote on X with an image of her and Thomas on a podium. "I'm just glad that girl trusted God and took a leap of faith by stating the obvious when it wasn't popular. It was true then and it's true now. He's a man."
