Enhanced Games: the 'Steroid Olympics' hit Las Vegas
Bona fide Olympic medalists like US sprinter Fred Kerley have been lured to take part in the Enhanced Games with potentially life-changing prize money (Jewel SAMAD) The first-ever Enhanced Games -- widely dubbed the "Steroid Olympics" -- take place Sunday in Las Vegas, where elite sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters will vie for world records while taking banned performance-enhancing drugs. Either a bold exploration of the upper limits of human capability and technology, or a dangerous circus created to peddle dubious "biohacking" supplements to viewers, depending on who you ask, the wildly controversial event has generated countless column inches before a single race has been run. It has the deep-pocketed backing of a "Make America Great Again" crowd including Donald Trump Jr and billionaire Peter Thiel, plus Middle Eastern financiers.
Bona fide Olympic medalists like US sprinter Fred Kerley and British swimmer Ben Proud have been lured to take part with potentially life-changing prize money. Anyone who beats a world record will take home a $1 million prize, while winners at the 2,500-seater arena at Las Vegas casino Resorts World will each receive a $250,000 jackpot. But since they were first mooted in 2023, the Enhanced Games have been slammed by organizations like the World Anti-Doping Agency, whose chief Witold Banka said the "dangerous" event "must be stopped.
" World Aquatics has banned anyone who takes part from returning to its events, while World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has simply called the whole thing "bollocks. " - 'Game-changing' - Some 42 athletes will participate in the Enhanced Games. Events include a 100-meter sprint, freestyle and butterfly swim races, snatch and clean-and-jerk weightlifting, and strongman deadlifts.
Most competitors are current or recently retired athletes who achieved remarkable success in "clean" sport but could have never dreamt of the payouts on offer in Las Vegas. Former Irish Olympic swimmer Max McCusker's interest was piqued when he was approached by a former teammate, and learnt he could win prize money totaling 25 times more than the $10,000 he estimates that he grossed "in my whole swimming career. " He has spent the past four months in Abu Dhabi, where doctors administered substances including anabolic steroids, testosterone and human growth hormone to athletes, all while meticulously tracking their bodies' response via biomarkers.
The results in training have been "nuts," he told AFP. "This is just game-changing," said McCusker, who said his body fat has nearly halved to 6. 4 percent, and reported that he is "swimming faster times than I was pre-Olympics" despite having retired from swimming for a year after Paris 2024.
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