This Steroid-Filled Competition is Snatching Up Olympians. Are the ‘Enhanced Games’ Setting a Bad Example?
Anwar Stetson
It isn’t the most unique idea. “What if we just let them ALL do steroids?” It’s something that college frat bros might talk about watching sports in a dorm room. Now, however, the any-substance-goes premise is a reality.
The “Enhanced Games” are coming to life in 2026. And some big names are joining.
This month, decorated American sprinter Fred Kerley signed on as the first American sprinter to be a part of the controversial event. He joins English Olympic swimmer Ben Proud, German Olympic swimmer Marius Kusch, Canadian weightlifter Broady Santavy, and half a dozen other athletes on the growing roster.
The Enhanced Games are an Olympics-style competition started by Australian businessman Aron D’Souza. It’s privately funded and will not drug test athletes, allowing them to use performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the competition at will.
With support from wealthy investors like Donald Trump Jr. and Peter Thiel, the games will be held in Las Vegas next May.
Will a steroid-riddled competition set a bad precedent for youth athletes? It seems to go without say. We dug in for a closer look.
What the Enhanced Games Are All About
Performance enhancing drugs in the Olympics have been a controversial topic for decades. Once-famed sprinters like Canada’s Ben Johnson and American Marion Jones had their reputations tarnished after they were caught doping. Other sports have featured stars like Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, and Jose Canseco, to name a few.
The use of PEDs has ended careers and caused trophies and accolades to be revoked. Overall, public perception has been negative, and association with PEDs quickly convicts an athlete of “cheating.”
D’Souza believes things need to change. “We are here to move humanity forward,” D’Souza said. “The old rules didn’t just hold back athletes, they held back humanity.”
Unlike the International Olympic Committee, which D’Souza calls corrupt, the Enhanced Games will compensate athletes for competing. To promote the company, the Enhanced Games paid Greek Olympic swimmer Kristian Gkolomev $1 million for breaking a 50m freestyle world record after using a program with PEDs.
He swam faster and made more money. “A successful year at the Enhanced Games for me is more than I could make in 10 careers,” Gkolomev said of the financial opportunity.
D’Souza announced that the games would take place in 2026 at Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip. Per ESPN, the competition will include swimming events, track and field, and weightlifting.
Tech Bro Immortality
But D’Souza and other supporters of the games are not just concerned with sports. They want to help “enhance” humanity and slow aging. “I’m not going to create the compounds that treat, cure and eventually solve aging,” he told the Australian Financial Review. “But we can create the market conditions in which that happens.”
D’Souza continued, “We’re not in the business of sport. This could fundamentally restructure human civilization.”
Another supporter, venture capitalist Bryan Johnson, went viral for dedicating his life to anti-ageing.
Johnson has gone so far as spending $2 million per year on protocols and experiments to keep himself young and experiment with achieving immortality. At one point, he controversially injected himself with his son’s blood. He spoke with Enhanced Games leaders at a conference last December.
As for Kerley, his motivations may be beyond just the pay and a new opportunity. The 30-year-old former silver medalist is currently under suspension for whereabouts failure in regards to drug testing.
In a statement, Kerley said that the Enhanced Games have given him the opportunity to “dedicate all my energy to pushing my limits and becoming the fastest human to ever live.”
The Dangers of PED’s
Governments often give PSA’s about the dangers of steroids and their potential side effects on young athletes. Future Olympians are goal-focused, astute, and willing to do anything it takes to win. This mindset often gets cultivated at a young age. This pressure may lead to steroid use. Per information compiled by the U.S. government 77 percent of males surveyed said that steroid use in sports “puts pressure on young athletes to use drugs to get ahead.”
While the Enhanced Games are the first major modern competition to have no drug testing, some sports have had a less than secretive approach to doping. The UFC has had its share of doping scandals, and company CEO Dana White props up Jon Jones, who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs on multiple occasions, as the greatest the sport has ever seen. UFC fighter Nate Diaz once famously said “everybody’s on steroids.”
Steroid scandals have plagued the MLB, NFL, NBA, and just about every pro sport, including the Olympics. If there’s a chance to cheat, someone will try to do it. But this is the first event where its sponsors are encouraging athletes to “enhance” themselves.
The side effects of doping are well documented. Anabolic steroids not only have superficial side effects like acne, stretch marks, and hair loss, but they can also enlarge heart muscles, stunt growth, and contribute to heart disease in teens. Injecting anabolic steroids with dirty needles puts users at risk for HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases.
Getting “My A** Kicked”
Perhaps the greatest bodybuilder of all time, Ronnie Coleman frequently used PED’s. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Coleman and Rogan talked about the negative effects of steroids–including the impact it had on kids doping, as well as users experiencing heart attacks and death.
The sketchiness of the black market for the drug also led to kids buying unsafe products. But Coleman began doping specifically because he was “tired of getting his ass kicked” in competition. As a competitor he was willing to do whatever it took to win despite the negative health effects.
Naturally Gifted
The monetary benefits could entice more athletes that kids look up to to join. However, the athletes who choose to join could face significant punishment from established bodies. Earlier this year, World Aquatics threatened to banish athletes who compete in events like the Enhanced Games. The Enhanced Games then sued World Aquatics for $800 million in late August over the ruling.
Unfortunately, teens may not understand that steroids won’t turn them into a Hall of Famer. Later in the episode with Rogan, Coleman admitted that doping didn’t make him that much stronger, but rather improved his conditioning. Coleman said that he was naturally “gifted”, and worked on his bodybuilding craft for years before he even thought about doping.
Coleman was already one of the best in the world naturally, steroids just gave him a slight edge. However, a kid in high school might think that steroids will turn them into a superhuman. Unfortunately, the cost of doping will result in young men and women crashing down to Earth, instead of flying high. Steroid use can lead to a cycle of addiction that isn’t easy to defeat.
Maybe one day humans will achieve some scientific form of immortality. Maybe science will create the conditions for the perfect athlete. But for now, despite changes in the sports landscape–every athlete only has a finite amount of time to maximize their athletic potential. Frankly, it isn’t wise for young people to waste it destroying their bodies with performance-enhancing drugs.