Hunter Armstrong risks Olympic future to compete in controversial event
Hunter Armstrong is a former 50-meter backstroke world record holder and Olympic gold medalist.
The 25-year-old American swimmer is a seven-time world champion, mostly in relays, and has built a successful career untouched by the kind of drama he has previously gotten himself into.
Armstrong showed himself to be the kind of athlete young swimmers in his home district of Ohio could admire without hesitation: a devout Christian, an educated school teacher, and a passionate Olympian with a clean record.
Things have been different lately.
“I was supposed to hold a swimming clinic for kids this weekend, but the parents objected. I ended up being expelled for it,” Armstrong said.
Next month Armstrong will compete in the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke at the Advanced Games, a controversial new one-day event presenting itself as a radical alternative to the Olympics, and will be chasing life-changing prize money of US$250,000 ($350,000) for victory in each event.
But there’s a twist: He’ll compete without performance-enhancing drugs in his system.
“I’m not going to tell your kids, ‘Hey guys, let’s get steroids,'” Armstrong told this imprint from Ohio. “I’m still me. Everything I’ve accomplished in this sport was before the Advanced Games. Even though I’m still not benefiting from the improvements, it’s been pretty frustrating. I’m kind of being excommunicated from my sport.”
After years of controversy, Enhanced Games will make its full debut in Las Vegas on May 24.
The concept is simple and provocative: Athletes in swimming, track and field, and weightlifting are allowed to use performance-enhancing substances under medical supervision, chasing huge prize money while pushing the limits of what the human body is capable of.
It’s a model that horrifies many in mainstream sport and intrigues others, especially athletes who feel the financial rewards of Olympic competition fall far short of the sacrifices required to get there.
Unlike former Australian swimmer James Magnussen, who is training with other Advanced Games athletes in Abu Dhabi, Armstrong wants to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Armstrong’s view is that if he remains in a registered testing pool and continues to return negative drug tests, he should have the right to do both.
This is a big gamble.
By his own admission, Armstrong has a lot to lose. The danger of expulsion from Olympic and World Aquatics competitions looms over his head. He is the only “unimproved” swimmer competing in Vegas.
“When the Advanced Games came out my first thought was, ‘Oh, if I could do that and stay in the regular part of the sport, that would be great,'” Armstrong said.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the idea… but after nearly my entire life fell apart, I felt like I had no choice but to open that door again and see if it was a viable option.”
Following the 2024 Paris Olympics, Armstrong’s main sponsor walked away. Suddenly, he was juggling four jobs—real estate, woodworking, teaching, and swimming coaching—to cover mortgage repayments on a new house.
Swimming, a sport not known for high salaries, was no longer paying the bills.
Around the same time, Armstrong watched Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev receive a US$1 million ($1.4 million) bonus from Enhanced Games organizers for breaking the world record in the men’s 50-meter freestyle while filming a documentary.
Gkolomeev finished the competition at the Paris Olympics in fifth place, behind Australian gold medalist Cam McEvoy, who broke the official 50-meter freestyle world record last month. McEvoy never used performance-enhancing substances.
After months of injecting peptides and testosterone, Magnussen hoped it would be his money, but it didn’t happen.
“That was beautiful,” Armstrong said of Gkolomeev’s time of 20.89. “I still think he could have gone faster if he was racing someone else.”
After receiving extensive legal advice, Armstrong believes there is nothing to stop him from competing at the Advanced Games and trying to realize his “dream” of swimming at his home Olympics two years later.
However, World Aquatics introduced regulations for athletes participating in the Advanced Games last year, but Armstrong believes his case is legally sound.
He is under the impression that the ban would only apply if World Aquatics stops complying with rules and regulations ahead of a major competition such as the world championships or the Olympics.
World Aquatics did not make a specific decision regarding Armstrong’s specific situation, telling ESPN last month that decisions would be made “on a case-by-case basis.”
“I still haven’t heard absolutely anything,” Armstrong said. “There haven’t been any encounters that I can test against. The only way to know is to do both and see if they stop me.”
“I was there too [drug] I’ve been testing pools since before Tokyo and they never stopped testing me. I constantly prove that I don’t participate in anything that is against the rules, so there should be no reason for me to be banned.
“I’m risking my reputation to do this and I’ve lost a lot of opportunities because of this stigma, which is non-existent and unreasonable.”
For now, Armstrong is guilty of complicity in the eyes of some caught in the moral crossfire over an incident that has already drawn harsh criticism.
Australian Olympic star Kieren Perkins warned two years ago that “someone is going to die”, while another now-retired swimming legend, Ariarne Titmus, said she would not compete even for $10 million; Such was his disgust with the premise of an event that allowed athletes to compete with substances in their bodies that would normally trigger bans in top-level sports.
But Armstrong argues that the truth is more nuanced.
The Advanced Games are backed by medical supervision, where doctors supervise athletes and only FDA-approved substances are allowed. Taking illegal substances is not allowed, preventing the casual gym junkie from pumping every steroid under the sun into his body. The organizers are determined that they will not jeopardize the health of the athletes.
“A lot of the negative feedback I’ve seen about the Enhanced Games is that they’re going to water everybody down with a bunch of illegal and extremely unsafe stuff and see how fast the human body can actually go. That’s so far from the truth,” Armstrong said.
“Every athlete has a choice about what to take. You don’t have to use drugs if you don’t want to.
“I don’t see any reason why anyone would be against Advanced Games, other than people not liking new things.
“I think it’s going to be huge. People by nature don’t like change. Most of the people who are against Advanced Games haven’t taken the time to research what’s actually being done. They read things on social media, form an opinion and stick with it.”
“I hope the majority of people use their brains. I understand [the backlash]I respect that, but if you have a problem with me or the Improved, talk to me.”
Armstrong did not say how much he was paid by the promoters, except to say it was enough to help with mortgage repayments. She hopes to become a primary school teacher once her swimming career is over, and she knows this could be her best chance to earn meaningful money from the sport that will build her future.
When asked about his views on the wider prize money offered to elite swimmers, Armstrong replied: “I can’t talk about that, I’m sorry.”
Armstrong is understandably trying to tread carefully. He clearly doesn’t want to attack World Aquatics, but he could still find himself in a legal battle if he is banned from the 2027 world championships in Budapest or next year’s Olympics. USA Swimming may also make life difficult for him. A fascinating test case.
Children’s clinics are closed for now, but Armstrong says he has received private messages from swimmers around the world; some are supportive, some are jealous, all are wondering if he can achieve this feat.
“I’ve had swimmers I haven’t talked to in years and Olympians from other countries message me and say, ‘This is amazing, I wish I could do the same thing.’ I’m not going to name-drop these athletes because I don’t want them to get in trouble if I’m wrong in my assumption that I can do both,” Armstrong said.
“I pride myself on being a good person. I love working with kids and being a role model, but I could lose opportunities if I’m banned or seen as a cheater.
“I foresee this being a really big deal and going on for a very long time.
“It’s almost like a movie.”
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Tom Decent is chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect with: X or email.
