Enhanced Games Open in Las Vegas: Drugs Not Just Allowed, but Encouraged

The inaugural Enhanced Games are set to begin Sunday in Las Vegas, launching one of the most controversial experiments in modern sport: an elite competition in which athletes are openly permitted to use certain performance-enhancing drugs.

The event, staged at a new open-air arena under the slogan “Live Enhanced,” will feature dozens of athletes competing in track, swimming and weightlifting. Organizers say the goal is to push the limits of human performance, while critics warn the event normalizes dangerous drug use and undermines the foundations of competitive sport.

The competition offers $25 million in prize money, including $1 million bonuses for world records in selected events. Winners can also receive large cash prizes, with British swimmer Ben Proud in line to earn $250,000 if he wins the 50m freestyle, and $1 million if he breaks the world record.

The drugs used must be legal and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. But substances such as testosterone and human growth hormone, which are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, are permitted and even encouraged by organizers.

The project was founded in 2023 by entrepreneurs Aron D’Souza and Maximilian Martin, and has attracted backing from investors including Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.

Health experts have warned that anabolic steroids and growth hormones can increase the risk of strokes, cardiovascular damage and other serious health problems.

Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency, said Olympic anti-doping systems need reform, but argued that open doping is not the answer.

“We don’t want kids to have to say, ‘in order to win an Olympic medal, when I’m 18 or 20 years old, I have to inject myself every day,’” Tygart told the BBC.

Enhanced organizers argue that their model is more honest than a system in which some athletes cheat secretly. American sprinter Shania Collins said the athletes are being transparent from the start.

“We’re being up front and honest,” she said.

Not all competitors will be using drugs. American swimmer Hunter Armstrong has said he intends to compete clean while still pursuing prize money and hoping to return to Olympic competition in 2028.

Several governing bodies have condemned the event. UK Athletics said it was “appalled” after former British sprinter Reece Prescod joined the competition, while UK Anti-Doping called the games a “reckless venture.” GB Aquatics has said Proud will not be selected again for Britain’s Olympic team if he competes.

The competition has also raised broader cultural concerns. The Enhanced Group, the company behind the event, recently began trading on the New York Stock Exchange and is using the games as a platform to promote performance-enhancing medicine and supplements online.

Critics say the event reflects a wider trend toward “biohacking,” body optimization and the commercial promotion of medical enhancement. Supporters say it is a new entertainment product aimed at adults interested in longevity and human performance.

The first Enhanced Games may be a niche sporting event, but the debate around it is much larger: whether elite sport should remain built around natural limits, or become another arena for medically engineered performance.