Olympic athletes warn pro-doping Enhanced Games could lead to deaths

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2 days ago

Former swimming world champion James Magnussen attends a Las Vegas press conference in May to announce he will be joining the new Enhanced Games.
Former swimming world champion James Magnussen attends a Las Vegas press conference in May to announce he will be joining the new Enhanced Games. Photograph: Arafat Barbakh/Reuters
Olympic athletes have condemned the Enhanced Games – a controversial new sporting event where competitors are encouraged to use performance-enhancing drugs – warning it could result in long-term health consequences or even deaths.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) athletes' commissions called the Enhanced Games 'a betrayal of everything that we stand for'.
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Related: Pro-doping Enhanced Games to debut in Las Vegas with Trump Jr backing
'Promoting performance-enhancing substances and methods sends a dangerous message – especially to current and future generations of athletes,' the statement read. 'Such substances can lead to serious long-term health consequences – even death – and encouraging athletes to use them is utterly irresponsible and immoral. No level of sporting success is worth such a cost.'
The rebuke is the most forceful yet against the Enhanced Games, an Olympics-style event set to debut next May in Las Vegas where athletes will be allowed, and in some cases incentivized, to use banned substances under medical supervision.
Organizers of the Enhanced Games have positioned the competition as a radical alternative to traditional sport, promising to embrace what they call 'superhumanity' by normalizing pharmaceutical and technological enhancement. The event will run 21–24 May 2026 at Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip and feature sprinting, swimming and weightlifting.
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While promoters frame the Games as a scientific revolution and a break from what they call the 'hypocrisy' of anti-doping regimes, the backlash has been swift and severe.
'This is a dangerous clown show, not real sport,' said Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, in an earlier statement. 'As we have seen through history, performance-enhancing drugs have taken a terrible physical and mental toll on many athletes. Some have died.'
The Enhanced Games' founder, the Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, insists the event is both ethical and medically sound. Athletes will undergo individualized health profiling, disclose all substances used while competing under the supervision of independent scientific and ethics boards. Traditional anti-doping tests will not be conducted.
'The Enhanced Games is renovating the Olympic model for the 21st century,' D'Souza said. 'In the era of accelerating technological and scientific change, the world needs a sporting event that embraces the future – particularly advances in medical science.'
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Critics say the model amounts to 'don't ask, don't tell' for doping. Others see a deeper agenda: a challenge not only to sport's institutions but to its foundational values. Many have also raised concerns about the political and financial backers of the event.
Related: 'Imagine if a 60-year-old broke Usain Bolt's record': the story behind the Enhanced Games, the Olympics where everyone dopes
The latest round of funding includes investment from 1789 Capital – a firm co-founded by Donald Trump Jr and Omeed Malik – while tech billionaire Peter Thiel has been listed as a major investor and 'close advisor', according to D'Souza. A video announcing the backing appeared to suggest the US president's personal endorsement. D'Souza has openly welcomed their involvement, describing Trump-aligned figures as 'some of the most significant' cultural supporters of the project.
The event's tagline, Live Enhanced, has become both a rallying cry and a provocation. Organizers say they are recruiting athletes who feel alienated by conventional doping restrictions, including former swimming world champion James Magnussen. In February, Greek-Bulgarian swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev recorded a time 0.02sec faster than the longstanding 50m freestyle world record, reportedly while following an enhancement protocol. But the swim was not officially recognized – in part because he wore a polyurethane suit not approved by Fina, swimming's global governing body.
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Prize money for the 2026 Games is substantial: up to $500,000 per event, with a $1m bonus for record-breaking performances.
Despite mounting criticism, the Enhanced Games show no signs of slowing down. Organizers say discussions are ongoing with sponsors and streaming platforms, though no broadcast partner or marquee athlete has been publicly confirmed. If regulatory pressure builds, the Games' future could hinge on whether the public sees the venture as scientific progress or a dangerous line crossed.
For now, Olympic athletes say the stakes couldn't be higher.
'We stand firmly together for the values of fair play, ethical behaviour and respect,' the IOC and WADA athletes said in Tuesday's statement. 'We will do everything we can to protect the integrity of sport for generations to come.'