What Christian Angermayer really thinks about Enhanced Games
Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Enhanced The billionaire backing the Enhanced Games, dubbed the ‘Steroid Olympics’, believes the sporting world has got it all wrong. Christian Angermayer genuinely believes the Enhanced Games offer something better than traditional sport. That is what makes his argument more serious than the nickname suggests.
The event is being held in Las Vegas and is built around the idea that athletes can openly use performance-enhancing drugs without fear of disqualification. Angermayer’s core argument is straightforward. Sport already uses athletes to sell everything from fast food to fizzy drinks.
He believes enhancement should be treated with the same commercial transparency. The one argument sport cannot ignore Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP via Getty Images That point is not easily dismissed. Major sport has always made compromises, especially when sponsors profit from products that have little to do with athlete wellbeing.
Angermayer believes that if a drug is FDA-approved and taken under medical supervision, it should be allowed. He is also clear that he sees the Enhanced Games as genuinely positive, not just a publicity stunt. There is some weight to that view.
Sport often talks about clean values while operating in a commercial grey area. It is easy to see why Angermayer believes he has highlighted a double standard. The Enhanced Games still turn athletes into the product But that does not make his solution convincing.