Three-time Olympic sprinter joins pro-doping Enhanced Games
Liberia's Emmanuel Matadi is the third sprinter to join the inaugural roster
Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil
The men’s 100m field at the inaugural Enhanced Games is continuing to grow. On Monday, Liberian sprinter Emmanuel Matadi, a three-time Olympian, was announced as one of the seven additional athletes joining the controversial league, which allows athletes to compete using performance-enhancing drugs. Matadi is the third sprinter to sign on, behind the U.S.’s Fred Kerley and France’s Mouhamadou Fall.
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Matadi holds Liberia’s 100m and 60m national records, boasting personal bests of 9.91 seconds (2024) and 6.52 seconds (2022), respectively. He became an Olympian at Rio 2016, competed at Tokyo 2020 and reached the 100m semi-final at Paris 2024. He also represented Liberia at last year’s World Indoor Championships and World Athletics Relays, and competed at the 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2022 World Athletics Championships. According to his World Athletics profile, Matadi has not raced in 2025.
The Enhanced Games, set for May 24, 2026, are offering a lucrative US$500,000 prize purse, with $250,000 going to event winners, plus appearance fees and a US$1 million bonus for breaking the 100m world record. (The record, if broken, will not count as an official world record.)
The start-up now has 17 athletes across three sports: 11 swimmers, three weightlifters and three sprinters.
Alongside promoting its upcoming competition, the Enhanced Games also promotes “living an enhanced life” for those who “refuse to feel average,” with their website offering three types of at-home testosterone treatments.
US$800 million lawsuit and a new CEO
Last month, the Enhanced Games saw major legal and leadership developments. The startup lost its US$800 million lawsuit against the World Anti-Doping Agency, World Aquatics and USA Swimming, which alleged these organizations were campaigning to boycott the Enhanced Games. The lawsuit was dismissed by a U.S. federal judge in November.
That same week, founder Aron D’Souza, who launched the concept in 2023, stepped down from his leadership role; he’ll remain a shareholder while co-founder Maximilian Martin steps up as CEO.
In late November, Enhanced Games also announced plans to go public, entering a business agreement with A Paradise Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: APAD), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which would take the company public.
