By Jorge Garcia and Arafat Barbakh
LAS VEGAS (newsinpo.site) — The Enhanced Games have announced their first event scheduled for May 2026 in Las Vegas, featuring competitions in swimming, track and field, and weightlifting. However, this tournament has raised concerns among anti-doping agencies as it will include athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs prohibited in regular contests.
Soaking up the vibrant neon lights of Las Vegas during the unveiling event, founder Aron D’Souza encouraged athletes on Wednesday to take a chance on this innovative contest, which he thinks could revolutionize sports science. However, detractors dismiss it as nothing more than a sideshow spectacle.
The organizers highlighted what they consider their most significant achievement yet: Kristian Gkolomeev, a Greek swimmer who failed to win an Olympic medal across four games but managed to surpass one of his sport’s major milestones through the Enhanced Games program.
Gkolomeev shaved off two-hundredths of a second from the 50m freestyle official world record, which had been standing for over 15 years. He completed the race in 20.89 seconds using an inline full-body open-water suit not compliant with World Aquatics regulations during a swim in February.
“I’m somewhat akin to the driver in the vehicle, yet I require support from my teammates,” stated Gkolomeev, who secured fifth place in the competition during the Paris Games, prior to theLas Vegas event.
Enhanced Games has presented the 31-year-old athlete as an exemplar of potential achievements under their management, but they have chosen not to reveal which “enhancements” were utilized, claiming medical privacy concerns.
D’Souza remarked, ‘He ought to be retiring, yet paradoxically, he’s now outpacing every swimmer who has come before him. The reason? He leveraged technology and scientific advancements to boost his capabilities.’
“Once the world realizes that, I think everyone is going to want it. Every middle-aged guy who once played competitive sport and is now suffering from back pain is going to say, ‘What is he on and how do I get it?'”
The Improved Competitions function based on the idea that prohibiting performance-boosting substances during significant events doesn’t safeguard athletes; instead, it hinders their capabilities.
“The essence of our project mirrors Formula One since the advancements made for improving race car speeds ultimately filter down to regular vehicles,” explained the Australian entrepreneur to newsinpo.site.
Just as science and medicine help athletes break world records even as they get older, these advancements will also enable everyone in our society to age more healthily and gracefully.
‘ROMAN CIRCUS’?
Contestants had the opportunity to win prize money totaling as much as $500,000 per event along with additional rewards for breaking a world record.
In swimming, athletes will compete in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 50-meter butterfly, and 100-meter butterfly events. The athletics program includes the 100-meter dash as well as the 110-meter and 100-meter hurdle races. Weightlifting competitions will consist of the snatch and clean and jerk disciplines.
The World Anti-Doping Agency staunchly opposes the project, warning athletes that they risk bans and their health.
The International Federation of Sports Medicine said the project could lead to exploitation of young athletes.
“Thinking that because you do medical checks on the spot is going to give you a good idea of the health risks of abuse of doping substances, again, is medical and scientific nonsense,” said World Anti-Doping Agency science director Olivier Rabin.
It’s akin to the Roman circus, where people’s lives were sacrificed merely for amusement. What is the worth of such an activity? In my view, no accountable society ought to head in that direction.
D’Souza contends that doping is widespread across both professional and amateur sports, even with attempts to eradicate the usage of prohibited substances, resulting in clandestine and unsafe practices.
“On the contrary, at Enhanced Games, we’re flipping that around, ensuring it becomes an equitable, balanced, and open playing field where innovation can be showcased publicly to foster technological advancement,” he stated.
Last year, D’Souza revealed that he had secured high-profile backers including PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, technology investor Christian Angermayer, and ex-Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan.
That same year, he signed his first Enhanced Games athlete, former Australian world champion swimmer James Magnussen, who consented to use prohibited performance-enhancing substances with the aim of breaking Cesar Cielo’s 50m freestyle record.
Andriy Govorov, the Ukrainian 50m butterfly world record holder and world bronze medallist, and 21-year-old Bulgarian swimmer Josif Miladinov, a European silver medallist, joined the Enhanced Games program last month.
Magnussen, who had retired from competition in 2019, told reporters that training with Enhanced Games reignited his passion for the sport and that the response from his fellow athletes had been “overwhelmingly positive”.
“I was waking up each day with an enthusiasm to train, to compete. I felt so healthy, so motivated,” he said. “It’s honestly the happiest I’ve been in seven years,” he said.
“As athletes we have a greater risk appetite than the general population and see an event like the Enhanced Games as an opportunity.”
The 2026 Enhanced Games are set for Las Vegas from May 21-24.
(Reporting by Jorge Garcia and Arafat Barbakh in Las Vegas; Additional reporting by Nathan Frandino and Iain Axon, Writing by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Christopher Cushing)
