The Enhanced Games were unveiled on May 21, with a date set for Las Vegas in May 2026. While its creators are boasting about Kristian Gkolomeev's "world record" in the 50m freestyle and the preparation of three-time Olympic medalist James Magnussen, the sports world has widely expressed its rejection of this project, which allows performance-enhancing drugs. It's a question of image, but also of values.
"A betrayal of everything we stand for."
On June 10, ahead of the opening of the International Athletes' Forum in Lausanne, the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency Athletes' Commissions published a joint statement to express their opposition to this competition. " As athletes, we believe that the Enhanced Games, or any event that encourages the use of performance-enhancing drugs and methods, are a betrayal of everything we stand for. Above all, these events compromise the integrity of sport and the responsibilities athletes hold as role models in society. they then write. Promoting performance-enhancing drugs and methods sends a dangerous message – especially to current and future generations of athletes. »
Statement from the IOC and WADA Athletes Commissions on the Enhanced Games, ahead of the International Athletes Forum in Lausanne on 11-12 June. @ Athlete365 @wada_ama pic.twitter.com/kORgeTQcwX
- IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) June 10, 2025
Alerting on the " serious long-term consequences "For the health of athletes, they denounce a principle" totally irresponsible and immoral ", opposed to the " values of fair play, ethics and respect that should guide and inspire the next generation of athletes The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), whose sport will be on the program for the first edition, along with swimming and athletics, pointed out the danger to the health of athletes and the integrity of the sport in a statement, while World Aquatics announced that swimmers participating in the Enhanced Games would no longer be allowed to take part in the competitions it governs. The barbed wire is up, but the "Enhancers" haven't given up. Quite the opposite.
"The real danger to sport is not science, it is stagnation."
Aron D'Souza, president and founder of Enhanced Games, responded to these criticisms on June 4: " We stand with the athletes, always. At the Enhanced Games, athletes have what traditional federations never gave them: choice, fairness, and real money. » Gkolomeev will not say the opposite: “ A million dollars is ten times more than I've earned in ten years. » Also motivated by the promise of an XXL check in the event of a world record, Magnussen began his course of peptides and hormones and gained 20 kilos. After a few months of preparation, I looked more like a bodybuilder than a swimmer. " admitted the Australian swimmer. " These are no longer the same old-fashioned treatments as good old anabolic steroids, but the harmful effects on health are the same., underlines Olivier Rabin, scientific director of the AMA, in the columns of L'Equipe. Magnussen's case is worrying because it proves that they are trying things without knowing if they will work. They are using the athlete as a guinea pig. »
“We offer a medically supervised, safety-focused, science-based arena – where performance is rewarded, not controlled by outdated ideology.”, retorts D'Souza, for whom World Aquatics seeks above all to protect a monopoly. World Aquatics hasn't paid its athletes for decades. Now, faced with real competition and real momentum, it's resorting to threats and bullying tactics. Let's be clear: the real danger to the sport isn't science. It's stagnation. » Against which he therefore claims to fight with anabolic steroids, testosterone or EPO. The Apollo program proved that the human race could surpass its limits through science and technology. This is also what Enhanced Games aspires to. " he dares to say. Despite the support of private investors, for the moment, sporting supporters and sponsors are not yet rushing in.
