Two-time Olympian Tristan Evelyn has expressed her delight at being a part of the inaugural Enhanced Games which will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from May 21 to 24.
“I am excited to run as a non-enhanced athlete at the Games,” Evelyn was quoted as saying in the event’s press release upon signing on as a non-enhanced athlete.
“Since the Enhanced Games model does not mandate athletes to participate in their medical programme, I am grateful for the opportunity to earn considerable prize money as a non-enhanced sprinter. It’s an incredibly talented women’s field that I’m excited to be a part of,” the 28-year-old said.
Evelyn, who holds the Barbadian national records in the 60 metres, 100m and Indoor 200m, has agreed to line up in the women’s 100 metres on May 24.
However, she has opted not to take part in the event’s enhanced medical protocol while competing for a share of the prize purse.
Chief sporting officer for the Enhanced Games, Rick Adams, was equally keen to have the Barbadian on board.
“Securing Tristan, one of the preeminent sprinters in the world, further strengthens our women’s division. Our transparent and flexible participation model offers athletes the opportunity to compete, be compensated generously and retain complete autonomy over their decision on enhancement. It also allows Tristan to maintain adherence to other international sporting organisations’ regulations for whom we have deep respect,” he said.
However, the news has not gone down well with Dr Adrian Lorde, the chairman of the National Anti-Doping Commission.
“We need to look at this carefully because these games are for persons who are allowed to dope. This athlete (Evelyn) says that she’s not doping and that she is not going to be enhanced during the games, but that’s not fair (to her) because she’s going to be competing against persons who will be,” Lorde said.
“In a nutshell, it is something we (the region) need to watch. We’ve had a Jamaican, two in fact, (Denae McFarlane and Shockoria Wallace), a Guyanese (Jasmine Abrams) and now we have a Barbadian who has so far signed up for these games, and we have to be careful how we deal with these cases. From the National Anti-Doping Commission’s point of view, I would say that we are disappointed and we advise persons not to take part in the Enhanced Games,” Dr Lorde remarked.
On top of representing Barbados at both the Tokyo 2020 Games and the Paris 2024 Games, the former Springer Memorial student is a World Indoor Championships semifinalist, a CARIFTA Games silver medallist, and an American Athletic Conference Indoor Sprint double champion while competing for the University of Houston Cougars.(JC)
