Anti-doping bodies condemn ‘dangerous’ drug-fueled Enhanced Games

LOS ANGELES: Anti-doping bodies on Thursday condemned plans for the first edition of the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, an Olympics-style event where athletes will be free to use performance-enhancing drugs.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and bodies across the world have taken aim at the event after organizers revealed the date, venue and format for the competition.

The Enhanced Games will be staged in Las Vegas in May 2026, with athletes participating in three sports — athletics, swimming and weightlifting.

Athletes will be allowed to use drugs which are banned across international sport such as steroids and human growth hormones, with winners of each event receiving $250,000, and a bonus of $1 million for anyone who breaks a world record.

Aron D’Souza, the Australian entrepreneur who is the founder of the event, says the Enhanced Games are an exercise in testing the boundaries of human performance.

“The Enhanced Games is renovating the Olympic model for the 21st century,” D’Souza said on Wednesday as details of the games were revealed.

“We are here to move humanity forward,” D’Souza said. “The old rules didn’t just hold back athletes, they held back humanity.

“We are not just organizing competition, we are in the business of unlocking human potential. We are the vanguard of super-humanity.”

The Enhanced Games will take place from May 21-24 at the Resorts World hotel in Las Vegas.

Swimming will hold 100m and 50m freestyle events, along with 100m and 50m butterfly.

Athletics events include the 100m and 100m and 110m hurdles. Weightlifters will compete in the snatch and clean & jerk disciplines.

WADA, the global anti-doping watchdog, on Thursday condemned plans for the event as “dangerous,” voicing concern