Ireland star admits move to Enhanced Games is 'for the money'

Unrepentant Shane Ryan says 'people's opinions won't pay me or set up my future'

- Rory Carroll

When Shane Ryan agreed to participate in the Enhanced Games - where performance-enhancing drugs are encouraged - he did not agonise: “I was like, you know what, let me do something for me for once. Let me make some money.”

The swimmer represented Ireland at three Olympics, in 2016, 2020 and 2024, but all those years of training and sacrifice were not paying the bills, so this week he announced he would compete at the controversial event.

“My whole 20s I gave to Ireland,” says the 31-year-old from a training camp in Las Vegas, where the tournament will take place. “Olympic athletes train so hard all their life and they just don’t get paid.”

Irish sporting authorities, commentators and even the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, condemned Ryan’s decision, but he is unrepentant. “People’s opinions aren’t going to pay me. They’re not going to help me set up my future.”

The International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency have also condemned the Enhanced Games - calling them a betrayal of sporting values and dangerous to health - but Ryan, who recently retired from competitive swimming, is eyeing the prize money.