Latest news with #performanceEnhancingDrugs
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
World Aquatics to ban anyone from Enhanced Games
World Aquatics has become the first international federation to ban athletes, coaches and officials from its events if they have taken part in the controversial Enhanced new event promotes banned performance-enhancing drugs and the inaugural Enhanced Games are scheduled to take place in Las Vegas from 21-24 May are plans for it to be an annual competition, initially comprising short-distance swimming, sprinting and month, Enhanced Games organisers said Greece's Kristian Gkolomeev swam 20.89 seconds in a 50m freestyle time trial in the US in February, 0.02 seconds quicker than the world record set by Brazil's Cesar Cielo in Aquatics said it has introduced a new bylaw "that reinforces its steadfast commitment to clean sport".It added: "Under the new bylaw, individuals who support, endorse, or participate in sporting events that embrace the use of scientific advancements or other practices that may include prohibited substances and/or prohibited methods will not be eligible to hold positions with World Aquatics or to participate in any World Aquatics competitions, events, or other activities. "This ineligibility would apply to roles such as athlete, coach, team official, administrator, medical support staff, or government representative."World Aquatics said it also encouraged its member associations to "adopt similar policies at the national level to uphold consistent standards across the sport".The Enhanced Games has been criticised for endangering athletes' health and undermining fair play, with the World Anti-Doping Agency describing it as a "dangerous and irresponsible project"., externalHowever, it has also attracted heavyweight backing from a venture capital fund headed up by Donald Trump Jr, the US president's son, and billionaire entrepreneur Peter Thiel."Those who enable doped sport are not welcome at World Aquatics or our events," said World Aquatics president Husain al Musallam. "This new bylaw ensures that we can continue to protect the integrity of our competitions, the health and safety of our athletes, and the credibility of the global aquatics community."
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Swimming world body will banish participants in pro-doping Enhanced Games
Swimmers, coaches and officials who compete in or support a controversial new sports event allowing performance-enhancing drugs will be barred from elite competition, World Aquatics announced on Tuesday. The move targets the Enhanced Games, a privately funded, Olympics-style event set to debut in Las Vegas next May, which explicitly permits – and encourages – the use of substances banned under global anti-doping rules. Athletes will not be drug-tested and may follow personalized pharmaceutical regimens, provided they disclose their use to organizers. World Aquatics said anyone who 'supports, endorses, or participates in sporting events that embrace the use of scientific advancements or other practices that may include prohibited substances and/or prohibited methods' will be ineligible for the organization's events. This includes athletes, coaches, administrators, and medical personnel. 'Those who enable doped sport are not welcome at World Aquatics or our events,' said Husain al-Musallam, the organization's president. The Enhanced Games, slated for 21–24 May 2026 in Las Vegas, will feature sprinting, swimming and weightlifting. Organizers have promised prize money of up to $500,000 per event, including $1m bonuses for breaking world records in the 100m sprint or 50m freestyle. Australian swimmer and three-time Olympic medalist James Magnussen is among a small group of athletes who have publicly signed on. The event's founder, Australian entrepreneur Aron D'Souza, has pitched the Games as a revolutionary platform embracing what he calls 'superhumanity', a future where pharmaceutical and technological enhancement is normalized. Athletes may compete naturally, follow enhancement protocols, or participate in clinical trials using FDA-designated 'Investigational Medicinal Products'. 'We are creating a new category of human excellence,' promotional materials say. 'A world where performance-enhancing drugs are used safely, openly, and under medical supervision.' D'Souza has called anti-doping policy 'outdated and hypocritical', claiming the Enhanced Games offers a safer, more transparent alternative. The plan has drawn sharp criticism from anti-doping bodies and sports federations. 'It's a dangerous clown show, not real sport,' said Travis Tygart, head of the US Anti-Doping Agency. The World Anti-Doping Agency warned the project 'jeopardizes athletes' health and well-being' by promoting 'the abuse of powerful substances and methods that should only be prescribed, if at all, for specific therapeutic needs'. Athletes are expected to undergo medical screening and be monitored by independent health and ethics boards. But enforcement appears largely voluntary, a feature organizers describe as part of their 'partnership-first' model. In February, Greek-Bulgarian swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev reportedly swam faster than the world record in the 50m freestyle while on an enhancement protocol. Though organizers touted the result, it came with caveats: Gkolomeev wore a full-body polyurethane suit not approved by World Aquatics, and the swim is not recognized as official. Financial backing for the Games includes support from figures aligned with former U.S. president Donald Trump. A recent investment round was led by 1789 Capital, a firm co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. Other backers include Peter Thiel's Apeiron Investment Group and the hedge fund Karatage. D'Souza has welcomed the association with Trump-linked donors, calling it 'more important than any investment' to have political and cultural backing from prominent American conservatives. World Aquatics' announcement comes amid efforts to clamp down on the Enhanced Games before they gain further traction. No major broadcasters or sponsors have been confirmed, and the pool of committed athletes remains small. Still, organizers say they are pressing forward with plans for a year-round training base and a broader business venture selling personalized enhancement programs to consumers. While the Enhanced Games bills itself as a parallel to the Olympics, critics say it risks undermining global sport entirely. 'The greater risk,' reads an internal Enhanced FAQ, 'is pretending those risks don't exist.' Whether the public embraces or rejects that philosophy may determine if the Enhanced Games are a one-off experiment or a disruptive force in the future of elite competition.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Sport
- CBC
Ontario horse trainer suspended 10 years for buying performance-enhancing drugs: AGCO
A Guelph, Ont.-area standardbread horse trainer has been suspended for 10 years and fined $40,000 after and investigation by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) revealed he purchased performance-enhancing drugs. Jeffrey Gillis was part of an investigation led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, which saw 27 horse trainers, veterinarians, and others being charged "with offences relating to the systematic shipment and administration of illegal performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to racehorses competing across multiple jurisdictions." When reached by phone on Monday, Gillis said he had no comment at this time about the suspension. Gillis is a successful trainer who has worked at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto and Woodbine Mohawk Park in Campbellville, west of Toronto. His biography on the Woodbine website lists a number of wins and purse earnings from 2003 onwards. Some of his achievements included in 2010 when he saw $2,910,315 in purse earnings and 2013, which marked the fifth consecutive season Gillis' stable earned more than $1 million. In 2020, he won an O'Brien Award for training the award-winning trotting mare Hey Livvy. Standardbred Canada says the O'Brien Awards "celebrate the absolute best in harness racing over a given year. They are the highest honour the sport bestows upon its heroes in this country." He also trained Covered Bridge, which won the Gold Cup and Saucer — Atlantic Canada's most prestigious harness race — twice, in 2023 and 2024. The race is held at Red Shores Racetrack in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Link to convicted U.S. veterinarian The AGCO says records show Gillis purchased illegal drugs, including "a substance held out to be an illegal, blood-boosting synthetic erythropoietin" from U.S.-based veterinarian Seth Fishman. Fishman was sentenced to 11 years in prison in July 2022 for making "untestable" performance enhancing drugs, the United States Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York says on its website. The attorney's office said in a release at the time of his sentencing that Fishman had worked for nearly 20 years in "peddling dozens of unsafe and untested drugs that purported to have performance-enhancing effects on racehorses." "Fishman created and marketed these drugs as "untestable" under typical anti-doping drug screens and extolled the virtues of these illegal drugs by describing his method of creating customized products for individual customers in order to silo product lines to reduce the likelihood that detection of doping by trainer would undermine the remainder of Fishman's corrupt clientele," the office said. The AGCO says Gillis purchased or attempted to purchase drugs from Fishman multiple times between Oct. 14, 2018 and June 27, 2019. As part of the AGCO ruling, all horses owned in whole or in part by Gillis are not eligible to race for 10 years. Any horses trained by Gillis are currently ineligible to race, however with the consent of the AGCO, they could be released to another trainer in good standing or sold. Karin Schnarr, registrar and CEO of the AGCO, said in a release this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Ontario's horse racing industry. "This case underscores our unwavering commitment to protecting the integrity of the sport and the welfare of horses. Any attempt to cheat the system and use performance-enhancing drugs is a serious breach of trust and the AGCO will hold offenders accountable," Schnarr said. The United States Trotting Association announced on Saturday it had been notified of the sanctions against Gillis and will enforce "reciprocal disciplinary action."
Daily Mail
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
The Enhanced Games will launch in Las Vegas next year as critics of the 'doping Olympics' cast fears over 'dangerous clown show' ahead of controversial competition
The first edition of the Enhanced Games, the controversial competition dubbed the 'doping Olympics ', will be held in Las Vegas next year. The event will include three sports – athletics, swimming and weightlifting – at a purpose-built complex inside the Resorts World hotel in May 2026, with the backing of a venture capital fund headed up Donald Trump Jr, the US president's son. Athletes will be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs and winners will receive $250,000, with a $1million bonus for anyone who breaks the world record in the 100 metres sprint or 50m freestyle. 'The Enhanced Games is renovating the Olympic model for the 21st century,' said the event's founder Aron D'Souza, the London-based Australian entrepreneur. 'In the era of accelerating technological and scientific change, the world needs a sporting event that embraces the future – particularly advances in medical science. 'We are not just organising competition, we are in the business of unlocking human potential. We are the vanguard of super-humanity.' Enhanced Games organisers claim one of their athletes, Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev, has already broken the 50m freestyle world record after following a doping programme. The Bulgarian-born 31-year-old is said to have clocked 20.89sec in a time trial in the US in February, 0.02sec quicker than the official record set by Brazil's Cesar Cielo in 2009. Gkolomeev, who was fifth in the 50m freestyle at last summer's Paris Olympics, wore a full-length polyurethane 'supersuit', which was banned from competition a few weeks after Cielo set the world record in one. It is claimed he also swam 21.03sec in 'jammer' shorts – which do comply with World Aquatic regulations – in April, which beats the best non-supersuit swim of US star Caeleb Dressel by 0.01sec. Gkolomeev, whose efforts feature on a new documentary about the Enhanced Games, has been awarded $1m, but World Aquatics insist they will not recognise his achievements. 'The Enhanced Games gave me the resources and the team to unlock a new level of performance - and now the whole world can see what's possible,' said Gkolomee, who began taking banned substances in January. D'Souza added: 'He should be retired, but in fact, he's swimming faster than any human being has ever done so. Why? Because he used technology and science to enhance his performance. 'Once the world realises that, I think everyone is going to want it. Every middle-aged guy who once played competitive sport and is now suffering from back pain is going to say, 'What is he on and how do I get it?'.' The Enhanced Games is set to be held annually and organisers expect to have around 100 athletes competing next year in the 100m sprint, 100m/110m hurdles, 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m butterfly, and weightlifting's snatch and clean and jerk. However, the concept has been slammed by anti-doping chiefs and sports administrators, with World Athletics president Lord Coe branding it as 'b******s* last year. Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, said it was a 'dangerous clown show', while World Anti-Doping Agency science director Olivier Rabin described it as a 'Roman circus, sacrificing the lives of people purely for entertainment'. Jane Rumble, chief executive of UK Anti-Doping, added: 'We are really, really concerned by this concept. It flies in the face of everything UKAD stands for and it flies in the face of fair play. 'Any sporting event which permits performance-enhancing drugs is ultimately unsafe - unhealthy for athletes. It is not good for their wellbeing.'
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Pro-doping Enhanced Games announces 2026 event, already claims world record
Unveiling details of a pro-doping athletics event planned for 2026, organizers of the Enhanced Games said Wednesday they envisioned it as 'the next evolution of sports.' While athletes who want to compete clean will be welcomed, organizers will not only allow but encourage and oversee participants on full cycles of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
