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Los Angeles Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Enhanced Games push PEDs and target world records in Olympic sports. But what cost?
'The Future of Sports Is Here: We are on a mission to redefine superhumanity through science, innovation and sports.' An unabashedly ambitious goal, or at least choice of words. Yet 'redefining superhumanity' isn't enough for the Enhanced Games, a start-up that plans to hold an Olympic-style competition next year in Las Vegas. The venture also seeks to 'reinvent sports with science.' Translation: Not just allow performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), not just encourage their use, but celebrate their use. Or, in the juice-flecked hyperbole of Enhanced Games copywriters, 'We are pioneering a new era in athletic competition that embraces scientific advancements to push the boundaries of human performance.' Breaking a world record in track or swimming sprint events will trigger a $1 million payout to the athlete, one of several performance bonuses promised by Enhanced. Where will the money come from? Investors reportedly include conservative billionaire Peter Thiel, Saudi prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, and Donald Trump the audacity of the message to the deep pockets funding the venture to the athletes tempted by the prospect of making big money and setting world records, the Enhanced Games are worth a closer look. World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Witold Banka sounded an alarm last week at a meeting of Summer Olympics sports leaders, warning that the Enhanced Games pose a threat to all that's hallowed and decent in global sport. 'This initiative seeks to normalize the use of potentially dangerous drugs,' Banka said. 'For the sake of athlete health and the purity of sport, of course, it must be stopped. 'As the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles approach, we cannot allow what should be a celebration of honest sporting endeavor to be overshadowed by this cynical attempt to undermine clean sport. We will urge the U.S. authorities to find legal ways to block this initiative.' Banka's warning prompted eye-rolling in some quarters. The Senate committee on Consumer Protection, Technology and Data Privacy will hold a hearing Tuesday titled 'WADA Shame: Swimming in Denial Over Chinese Doping.' WADA refused to investigate claims of 23 Chinese swimmers testing positive for a PED before the Tokyo Olympics. With the LA Games in 2028 and Salt Lake City Games in 2034 looming, the Senate committee also plans to address claims that inconsistent enforcement by WADA has resulted in unfair competitions impacting American athletes. USADA chief executive Travis Tygart accused Banka of mentioning the Enhanced Games to distract from the upcoming Senate hearing, telling the Associated Press, 'Banka's indignation equals his misinformation or ignorance about how free democratic societies and markets work.' That doesn't mean Tygart is A-OK with an endeavor that encourages the use of PEDs and the resulting tainted accomplishments. 'As we have repeatedly said, for all of the obvious reasons, the Enhanced Games or any other open competition is a bad idea,' Tygart said in comments emailed to Agence France-Presse. 'If he really wants to ask U.S. authorities to do something, he should show up and ask the Senate to do something.' The first global sports body to push back is World Aquatics, which passed a rule two weeks ago that bans any swimmer who supports the Enhanced Games — even if they've never competed — from representing their country again. The rule applies to those who 'support, endorse, or participate in sporting events that embrace the use of scientific advancements or other practices that may include prohibited substances and/or prohibited methods,' a World Aquatics statement said. The Enhanced Games will take aim at world records in swimming, weightlifting and track at Resorts World in Las Vegas on Memorial Day Weekend, 2026. Scheduled swimming events are the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle, and the 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly. Weightlifting will include the snatch and the clean & jerk. Track events will include the 100-meter dash and the 110-meter hurdles. Each event will carry a prize purse of $500,000, with $250,000 awarded to each winner. In addition, bonuses will be paid for world records, including $1 million for records in the 100-meter sprint and 50-meter freestyle, which the Enhanced Games website describes as 'the two definitive tests of raw human speed.' The Enhanced Games will take place within the resort. The competition complex features a four-lane pool, a six-lane sprint track and a weightlifting stage. The founder and president of the Enhanced Games is Aron D'Souza, an Australian entrepreneur. D'Souza has been on a crusade to create an alternative to the Olympic Games, which he believes don't compensate athletes fairly. He advocates for the use of PEDs, arguing that athletes should have the freedom to make choices about their own bodies and that WADA acts as an 'anti-science police force' for the International Olympic Committee. Previously, D'Souza led Thiel's litigation against Gawker Media involving the wrestler Hulk Hogan, which resulted in one of the largest invasion of privacy judgments in history, and is the subject of the book 'Conspiracy' by author Ryan Holiday. D'Souza is the founder of Sargon, a technology infrastructure company in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. He sold his stake in the company in 2018. The extent to which billionaire investors, such as Thiel, Alwaleed Al Saud and Trump Jr., will fund the Enhanced Games is unclear. Money isn't a problem, if statements on the event's website are believed: 'We are backed by some of the world's most successful venture capitalists, allowing us to operate independently without government and taxpayer funding.' D'Souza told the Associated Press that Trump Jr.'s group, called 1789 Capital, is bringing 'double digit millions' to the Enhanced Games. Trump Jr. made a video trumpeting his partnership, that includes an appearance by his father, President Trump. Trump Jr., in a statement accompanying the announcement of the funding, said: 'This is about excellence, innovation, and American dominance on the world stage — something the MAGA movement is all about.' D'Souza is thrilled by the backing of America's first family and other moneyed interests. 'To know that some of the most significant figures in American social and political life support the Enhanced Games is more important to us than any investment,' he said on a video call in February. 'I've had the great fortune of working alongside many members of the administration and other prominent figures of the Trump movement over the years, so it's a very natural fit.' D'Souza and his team express lofty goals beyond juicing athletes, setting records and paying race winners. Last week, D'Souza posted as much on LinkedIn: 'This isn't just about enhancement. It's about economic freedom. About athletes having a choice. About breaking the monopoly that old institutions hold over human performance. 'At the Enhanced Games, we are unapologetic: We're not backing down. We will fight — in the courts, in the public square, and in the arena of ideas — for every athlete who's been silenced, underpaid, or discarded.' The list of health risks associated with taking anabolic steroids — which have no medical use approved by the U.S. government — is long and frightening: Men may see their breasts and prostate gland grow and their testicles shrink. Women may get a deeper voice, grow body hair and lose hair on their head. Both men and women might tear tendons or develop liver tumors, severe acne, elevated blood pressure, heart problems, issues with anger and depression. The Enhanced Games say the competition will be under the supervision of a medical team, but by the time the games begin, damage from taking PEDs may have already developed. 'Protecting athletes is our top priority,' the Enhanced Games website proclaims. 'Every competitor will undergo rigorous, state-of-the-art medical profiling before participating in the competition.' The first athlete to show results from using the Enhanced Games PEDs regimen is Kristian Gkolomeev, a Greek swimmer who never medaled in four Olympics. In February, Gkolomeev swam two-hundredths of a second faster than the 50-meter freestyle world record with a time of 20.89. He wore an inline full-body open water suit that is prohibited by World Aquatics. 'I'm kind of like the driver in the car, but I need the team behind me,' Gkolomeev said during an Enhanced Games promotional event last month in Las Vegas. Many believe that breaking records under the influence of PEDs is meaningless. Paul Ifrim, a Romanian Luger who finished 20th at the 2010 Winter Olympics, responded to D'Souza's LinkedIn post with this comment: 'I earned my place at the Olympics through hard, clean work and unwavering dedication over the course of many years. Integrity, fair play, respect, and perseverance are what inspire and shape true athletes. Your argument for 'enhancing' drugs, viewed as 'athlete compensation,' is a disgrace to those principles. 'What message are we sending young, aspiring athletes? That cheating and cutting corners is a valid path to success? These are pathetic excuses for undermining the true spirit of competition. You're delusional for promoting this agenda. True athletes rise through grit and honor, not shortcuts and hypocrisy.' Tygart, the CEO of USADA, had a similar reaction: 'While those behind the Enhanced Games might be looking to make a quick buck, that profit would come at the expense of kids across the world thinking they need to dope to chase their dreams. We desperately wish this investment was being made in the athletes who are currently training and competing the real and safe way. 'They are the role models this world so desperately needs and they are the ones who deserve our support — not some dangerous clown show that puts profit over principle.' A counterpoint was published last summer by anti-doping expert Michael Ashenden, who helped create the athlete blood passport system and develop a test for the blood-boosting drug Erythropoietin (EPO). Initially opposed to the Enhanced Games, Ashenden changed his mind, writing that the failures of WADA to combat doping in the Olympics make an alternative viable. 'Today I advocate for the concept of an Enhanced Games to co-exist with the Olympic Movement, provided their athletes do nothing illegal,' Ashenden wrote. 'I realized that not following the WADA rules was not so radical after all....' 'I acknowledge that by offering incentives for record performances, the Enhanced Games are tacitly encouraging the use of performance-enhancing substances. But by offering a gold medal, the Olympic Movement also incentivizes the use of performance-enhancing substances.... 'Although it may be a bitter pill for the Olympic Movement, it was foreseeable that the commercialization of sport under their stewardship would create an environment that seeded a corporate disruptor.'
Irish Examiner
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Elite athletes warned to avoid one-night stands over risk of failing drug tests
Elite athletes have been warned against having one-night stands because of the risk they could be contaminated with banned drugs from engaging in casual sex. The warning came as top lawyers and anti-doping experts debated contamination cases in sport before highlighting the hidden dangers for the Tinder generation. Mark Hovell, a sports lawyer and the independent chair in the Jannik Sinner anti-doping case, raised the issue of the French tennis player Richard Gasquet, who was cleared after testing positive for cocaine after showing it came from kissing a woman in a nightclub. 'Gasquet managed to get her to come and give evidence to say: 'Yes, I'm a cocaine addict. I use cocaine,' Hovell added. ''I kissed him in this nightclub.' But with a one-night stand, how are you going to be able to find that person again? That's the problem.' Asked whether an elite athlete was opening themselves up if they didn't get a phone number of the person they slept with, Hovell nodded before saying: 'They might not have the evidence they need.' Another panellist, Travis Tygart, the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency, cited the case of the American boxer Virginia Fuchs in 2020. Fuchs tested positive for prohibited substances, but was cleared after proving that the metabolites detected in her sample were consistent with recent exposure via sexual transmission with her male partner. 'I think based on the cases we've seen, watch who you kiss and watch out who you have an intimate relationship with,' Tygart told the Sports Resolutions conference. Tygart also called on the World Anti-Doping Agency to raise the minimum reporting level of substances that could be sexually transmitted, such as clostabal and ostarine – so that if anti-doping laboratories found a trace amount in an athletes' sample they would not risk a sanction. 'I think it's a pretty ridiculous world we're expecting our athletes to live in, which is why we're pushing to try to change these rules to make it more reasonable and fair,' said Tygart. The Guardian
Irish Independent
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Athletes warned one-night stands could lead to failed drugs tests
Tennis player Richard Gasquet was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in 2009 after testing positive for cocaine, with the Frenchman able to prove that it entered his system after kissing a woman at a nightclub. 'Gasquet managed to get her to come and give evidence to say: 'Yes, I'm a cocaine addict. I use cocaine,' leading sports lawyer Mark Hovell explained at the Sports Resolutions conference in London. ''I kissed him in this nightclub.' But with a one-night stand, how are you going to be able to find that person again? That's the problem.' Travis Tygart, the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), also cited the example of American boxer Virginia Fuchs, who tested positive for prohibited substances in 2020 but was cleared after proving that the metabolites detected were consistent with recent exposure via sexual transmission with her partner. Tygart, who has criticised the World Anti-Doping Agency regularly over the last 12 months, called on the body to relax the minimum reporting level of substances that could be sexually transmitted so that athletes were not at risk of suspension. 'I think based on the cases we've seen, watch who you kiss and watch out who you have an intimate relationship with,' Tygart said. 'I think it's a pretty ridiculous world we're expecting our athletes to live in, which is why we're pushing to try to change these rules to make it more reasonable and fair. 'The onus is always on the athletes – we as anti-doping organisations, need to take some of that responsibility back. And I worry how many of the intentional cheats are actually getting away because we're spending so much time and resources on the cases that end up being someone kissing someone at a bar.'
The Independent
02-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Athletes warned one-night stands could lead to failed drugs tests
Doping officials have warned elite athletes that they should avoid one-night stands to avoid a risk of contamination with banned substances. Tennis player Richard Gasquet was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) in 2009 after testing positive for cocaine, with the Frenchman able to prove that it entered his system after kissing a woman at a nightclub. 'Gasquet managed to get her to come and give evidence to say: 'Yes, I'm a cocaine addict. I use cocaine,' leading sports lawyer Mark Hovell explained at the Sports Resolutions conference in London. ''I kissed him in this nightclub.' But with a one-night stand, how are you going to be able to find that person again? That's the problem.' Travis Tygart, the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), also cited the example of American boxer Virginia Fuchs, who tested positive for prohibited substances in 2020 but was cleared after proving that the metabolites detected were consistent with recent exposure via sexual transmission with her partner. Tygart, who has criticised the World Anti-Doping Agency regularly over the last 12 months, called on the body to relax the minimum reporting level of substances that could be sexually transmitted so that athletes were not at risk of suspension. 'I think based on the cases we've seen, watch who you kiss and watch out who you have an intimate relationship with,' Tygart said. 'I think it's a pretty ridiculous world we're expecting our athletes to live in, which is why we're pushing to try to change these rules to make it more reasonable and fair. 'The onus is always on the athletes – we as anti-doping organisations, need to take some of that responsibility back. And I worry how many of the intentional cheats are actually getting away because we're spending so much time and resources on the cases that end up being someone kissing someone at a bar.'
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Elite athletes told to AVOID one-night stands due to the risk of drug contamination
Anti-doping experts have told elite athletes to avoid one-night stands to limit their chances of being contaminated with banned drugs. Performance-enhancing drugs were on the agenda at a conference in London on Thursday, with experts calling for rules to be changed so that there is a clearer distinction between intentional cheating and contamination. Two high-profile cases in recent years have seen athletes cleared of intentional doping after claiming drugs got into their system via their sexual partners. Back in 2009, tennis star Richard Gasquet was cleared after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that his positive test for cocaine was 'probably' caused by kissing a woman in a nightclub. Five years ago, US boxer Virginia Fuchs was then cleared of any wrongdoing after it came to light her partner was using therapeutic doses of GW1516, a banned substance that boosts endurance. An investigation found the metabolites in her sample 'were consistent with recent exposure to the substances via sexual transmission'. Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), has now warned athletes that they should be careful about who they enter into sexual relationships with. US boxer Virginia Fuchs (pictured) was also cleared in 2020 after the metabolites found in her sample 'were consistent with recent exposure to the substances via sexual transmission' 'It's so pathetic that we're having this conversation,' Tygart admitted. 'But I think based on the cases we've seen, watch who you kiss. Watch out who you have an intimate relationship with. 'To tell that to elite athletes, I think it's a pretty ridiculous world we're expecting our athletes to live in, which is why we're pushing to try to change these rules to make it more reasonable and fair. The onus is always on the athletes. We as anti-doping organisations need to take some of that responsibility back. 'And I worry how many of the intentional cheats are actually getting away because we're spending so much time and resources on the cases that end up being someone kissing someone at a bar. 'Really, it's incredible to think that you have to tell athletes to be careful who they may have intimate relationships with. And it's why we have to change the system, so that's not the world that elite level athletes are expected to live under.' Tygart revealed that changes to anti-doping rules are set to be made with regards to certain substances. He namechecked Clostebol, the anabolic steroid that Jannik Sinner tested positive for last year. The No 1 ranked male tennis player denied any wrongdoing, but later accepted a three-month ban which he has nearly completed. Tygart also mentioned Ostarine, a substance that was found in boxing star Ryan Garcia's system following his fight with Devin Haney last year. Garcia also denied intentional use of the substance, but accepted a one-year ban. Tygart said: 'There's a handful of substances that you could say at certain levels, and we're talking very, very low levels, you put in an MRL [minimum reporting level]. 'Wada is already doing it for clenbuterol, meat enhancers, and diuretics. Add a few more substances to that, Clostebol would be one of those, because we know it can transfer between people through intimacy. Ostarine is another.'
