IOC issue death warning over 'utterly irresponsible and immoral' Enhanced Games with damning statement ahead of athletes summit in Switzerland
The Enhanced Games is a controversial competition which was created as an environment for athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to see what the human body can achieve.
The first edition of the Enhanced Games competition is slated for May 2026, with Las Vegas playing host, though the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have since released a joint statement condemning the event.
'As athletes, we believe that the Enhanced Games or any events encouraging the use of performance-enhancing substances and methods are a betrayal of everything that we stand for,' the shared statement read.
'Most importantly, these events undermine the integrity of sport, and the responsibility athletes hold as role models in society.
'Promoting performance-enhancing substances and methods sends a dangerous message – especially to current and future generations of athletes.
'Such substances can lead to serious long-term health consequences – even death – and encouraging athletes to use them is utterly irresponsible and immoral.
'No level of sporting success is worth such a cost.
'We stand firmly together for the values of fair play, ethical behaviour and respect – principles that have shaped our journey and that we believe should guide and inspire the next generation of athletes.
'We will do everything we can to protect the integrity of sport for generations to come.'
Unsurprisingly, the Enhanced Games has proven to be a hugely divisive topic in the world of sport, with numerous athletes both past and present voicing their support on both sides.
The event will include three sports – athletics, swimming and weightlifting – at a purpose-built complex inside the Resorts World hotel in May 2026, with the backing of a venture capital fund headed up Donald Trump Jr, the US president's son.
Athletes will be allowed to use performance-enhancing drugs and winners will receive $250,000, with a $1million bonus for anyone who breaks the world record in the 100 metres sprint or 50m freestyle.
Organisers already claim to have broken a world record in the latter event, with Greece's Kristian Gkolomeev alleging to have broken Cesar Cielo's world record by 0.02seconds.
The time will not be recognised by World Aquatics - swimming's governing body - but the Enhanced Games insists it is legitimate. The swimmer was taking PEDs and wearing a now-banned 'super suit' for the swim.
'The Enhanced Games is renovating the Olympic model for the 21st century,' said the event's founder Aron D'Souza, the London-based Australian entrepreneur.
'In the era of accelerating technological and scientific change, the world needs a sporting event that embraces the future – particularly advances in medical science.
'We are not just organising competition, we are in the business of unlocking human potential. We are the vanguard of super-humanity.'
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