Anti-doping bodies condemn ‘dangerous' drug-fueled Enhanced Games

Straits Times

2 days ago

The Enhanced Games team attend a press conference to announce the event scheduled for May 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES – Anti-doping bodies on May 22 condemned plans for the first edition of the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, an Olympics-style event where athletes will be free to use performance-enhancing drugs.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and bodies across the world have taken aim at the event after organisers revealed the date, venue and format for the competition.
The Enhanced Games will be staged in Las Vegas in May 2026, with athletes participating in three sports – athletics, swimming and weightlifting.
Athletes will be allowed to use drugs which are banned across international sport such as steroids and human-growth hormones, with winners of each event receiving US$250,000 (S$322,000), and a bonus of US$1 million for anyone who breaks a world record.
Aron D'Souza, the Australian entrepreneur who is the founder of the event, says the Games are an exercise in testing the boundaries of human performance.
'The Enhanced Games is renovating the Olympic model for the 21st century,' he said on May 21 as details of the Games were revealed.
'We are here to move humanity forward. The old rules didn't just hold back athletes, they held back humanity.
'We are not just organising competition, we are in the business of unlocking human potential. We are the vanguard of super-humanity.'
The Games will take place from May 21-24 at the Resorts World hotel in Las Vegas.
Swimming will hold 100m and 50m freestyle events, along with 100m and 50m butterfly. Athletics events include the 100m and 100m and 110m hurdles. Weightlifters will compete in the snatch and clean & jerk disciplines.
Wada, the global anti-doping watchdog, condemned plans for the event as 'dangerous', voicing concern it could lead athletes around the world to dabble in illicit substances with potentially deadly consequences.
'Wada condemns the Enhanced Games as a dangerous and irresponsible concept,' the agency said in a statement.
'The health and well-being of athletes is Wada's No. 1 priority. Clearly this event would jeopardise that as it seeks to promote the use of powerful substances and methods by athletes for the purposes of entertainment and marketing.
'There have been many examples of athletes suffering serious long-term side-effects from their use of prohibited substances and methods. Some have died.'
Travis Tygart, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), said the event was a 'dangerous clown show that puts profit over principle'.
Australia's anti-doping body, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA), also condemned the risks posed to athletes participating in the Enhanced Games.
'We work to ensure that sport is safe and fair to all,' SIA chief executive Sarah Benson said in a statement. 'The Enhanced Games is promoting the complete opposite and poses a significant risk to athlete health and safety.'
D'Souza, however, has pushed back on those criticisms, insisting that the competition would be conducted 'safely'. AFP
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