'Valueless spectacle': World champion Evan Dunfee speaks out against Enhanced Games

Evan Dunfee's historic gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Japan is proving meaningful in ways he never imagined. 

That's because after hearing O Canada from the top of the podium and collecting $70,000 US in prize money, the Richmond, B.C., race walker seized an opportunity brought about by his elevated profile to speak out on something he cares deeply about: ethical sport.

It all started with a social media message from someone who said they work for the Enhanced Games, congratulating Dunfee on his win and winner's cheque.

The Enhanced Games is a new billionaire-backed multi-sport venture with no rules around the use of performance enhancing drugs and no testing. 

"To get a message from somebody ... mentioning their association with the Enhanced Games, thinking that I, of all people, wouldn't find that deplorable, was very interesting," said Dunfee, a KidSport ambassador and frequent school speaker.

His response to the overture on social media read in part:

"My message is that an athlete's value is in showing their communities that a dream, any dream, is worth chasing. That the pursuit of that dream is what transforms us as individuals for the better. The enhanced games are the antithesis of that message ... a valueless spectacle that jeopardizes the ability of clean athletes to inspire their neighbours."

Dunfee said he is bothered by the Enhanced Games' pitch that it is pushing the envelope of sport science when what he believes organizers are really messaging is "doping to the gills and taking home bags of cash."

"Something like the Enhanced Games, where that moral contract is broken, it's no longer about achieving personal potential, it's about manufacturing yourself into something unhealthy, and