On the 24th of May, the inaugural Enhanced Games occurred in Las Vegas. It deviated from most athletic competitions by sanctioning the use of performance-enhancing substances to allow athletes to “tap into a pocket of potential that you otherwise couldn’t tap into,” according to the game’s chief executive Max Martin. A pet project for AI tycoons like Arin D’Souza and Peter Thiel, the Games covered disciplines such as weightlifting, swimming, and track & field. Many participants were retired athletes and those already serving bans.
Before the event it was confirmed that any world records broken would not be officially recognised by sporting bodies, but this turned out not to be an issue as only one record was broken. Wearing a prohibited swimsuit that boosted his aerodynamics and taking PEDs, Kristian Gkolomeev beat the official Men’s 50m Freestyle record by 0.07 seconds, less time than a blink. The legitimate world record holder, Cameron McEvoy, even took to social media to ask: “Seriously?! That’s all you got!”
The more embarrassing turnout will be that several athletes who claimed to not be doping won events over those who were openly using substances. For instance, the Men and Women’s 100m Running and the Men’s 50m Swimming Backstroke contests were won by clean athletes. For the aforementioned track runs, data collected after the event revealed the athletes weren’t even at the standard of top-level high school track runners, a pathetic showing that flies in the face of the event’s promise to show unforeseen performances.
The Enhanced Games was a money pit which cost millions in marketing and prize money but unfortunately fell far short on its selling point. Organisers have already promised the contest will run again, but future expectations for the event have been hit from the underwhelming results of the last week.
“Berlinger Bereg Kit doping sampling bottles by Augustas Didzgalvis” by Augustas Didžgalvis is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.