'Humans want to optimize': Enhanced Games founder embraces doping row
Love them or loathe them, the Enhanced Games have struck a nerve.Multiple athletes told AFP they experienced unprecedented physical improvements and enhanced recovery times while training for four months in Abu Dhabi prior to the Enhanced Games.
For German entrepreneur and Enhanced Games co-founder Christian Angermayer, the attention being paid to the event is no surprise (ETIENNE LAURENT) Love them or loathe them, the Enhanced Games have struck a nerve. The multi-sport competition taking place this weekend in Las Vegas -- where sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters are free to dope on performance-enhancing substances -- has grabbed headlines around the world. For Christian Angermayer, the German billionaire co-founder and long-time "biohacking" evangelist, it is no surprise at all.
"Humans want to optimize themselves, throughout history," he told AFP, on the eve of the divisive event. "The foundation of our Western model -- the entire Greek mythology -- is based on demigods, or humans who are elevated, and to do things which are outside" the abilities of ordinary people. "The whole word hero, the hero mythology -- which, by the way, literally our storytelling is based on -- is based on being an outstanding human being.
" For critics of the Enhanced Games, who include world athletics governing bodies and anti-doping agencies, such lofty comparisons are nothing short of dangerous. Skeptics fear that not only could athletes do themselves long-term harm, but that members of the public, enthralled by the event, may buy dangerous experimental supplements to "enhance" themselves without medical supervision. World Anti-Doping Agency chief Witold Banka called the Enhanced Games a "dangerous" event that "must be stopped.
" Unsurprisingly, Angermayer -- who made his fortune in cryptocurrency and is also an evangelist for deregulating psychedelics -- disputes these fears as "brainwashing. " While it is no secret that the Enhanced Games are a showcase for the testosterone and peptide medications that organizers are selling, Angermayer says every substance involved has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Athletes have undergone rigorous medical screening throughout the training process.