What are enhanced games? (Photo- GETTY)
Enhanced Games: On May 24, 2026, a unique game was organized at Resorts World in Las Vegas, named The Enhanced Games. This was the first multi-sport event in the world where athletes were allowed to use performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) openly. No drug testing, no WADA rules, organizers claimed it would break the limits of the human body, create new world records and create superhuman athletes. But the reality turned out to be different.
Who started enhanced games?
Enhanced Games was started by Australian businessman Aaron D’Souza in 2023. His reasoning behind this was that athletes are adults, their bodies are theirs. They should have the right to increase their capacity. He accused the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that these organizations exploit athletes and are stuck on old thinking.
What are the rules of enhanced games?
- According to the rules of Enhanced Games, players can only use FDA approved drugs (such as testosterone, HGH, EPO, anabolic steroids).
- According to the rules, medical supervision is necessary.
- However, doping is not mandatory, clean athletes can also participate.
- A bonus of 1 million dollars is given for breaking the world record.
- The first event included swimming, athletics (track) and weightlifting.
What happened in the first edition?
During the first edition at Resorts World in Las Vegas, a total of 42 athletes from 24 countries took part. At the same time, the medicines being used by the athletes were being shown publicly on the screens in the stadium. The atmosphere was fantastic, lights, music, influencers and a prize pool of crores. But the performance of the players remained average. During this event, Greek swimmer Christian Gakolomev completed the 50 meter freestyle race in 20.81 seconds. This was just 0.07 seconds better than the world record. But, this record is not valid, because he wore a banned skinsuit and also did doping.
On the other hand, American sprinter Fred Kerley, who was a clean athlete and did not dope, won the 100 meters race. However, he too could not break Usain Bolt’s record. He said sarcastically, ‘The rest should work harder, maybe take a little more drugs.’ Tristan Evelyn won the women’s 100 meters, she was also a clean athlete. At the same time, British swimmer Ben Proud earned about Rs 3.5 crore from this event. During these games, a total of 12 athletes created personal bests, but no one could perform the big miracle that everyone was expecting.
Enhanced Group suffered loss
Even though the organizers declared the event a success, there was a claim of a superhuman, who was not seen. Due to which the shares of Enhanced Group fell by 43% after the first event. This shows that the market was also not excited. Still, the organizers are preparing for the next edition and plan to make it an annual event.
