From elite runners to elite swimmers, top athletes are gathering this weekend for a new Donald Trump Jr.-backed competition—and drugs are now allowed.
Taking place in Las Vegas on Memorial Day weekend, The Enhanced Games will host 42 athletes who will compete across swimming, weightlifting, and running. A tournament fit for Sin City, the games will feature athletes who are taking performance enhancement drugs, which are banned for both domestic and international competitions like the Olympics.
The games are organized by Enhanced, which in addition to organizing the games, focuses on direct-to-consumer longevity medicine. The company went public earlier this month, and has major investors like Donald Trump Jr.’s investment firm, 1789 Capital, and Peter Thiel.
Now dubbed the “Steroid Olympics,” the event will be housed in a custom-built arena for around 2,500 invite-only spectators, according to the organizers. The games, which were first announced in 2023, have unsurprisingly received widespread criticism from organizations like the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). But criticism alone is not stopping the event which looks to push the limits of human capacity in sports.
The format of the event is simple, with enhanced and non-enhanced athletes competing to break records and deliver high performances with $25 million in total athlete compensation up for grabs.
The controversial sporting event is set to host some notable athletes, including sprinter Fred Kerley, and swimmers Cody Miller and James Magnussen, all of whom have participated and won medals in previous Olympic Games.
And while allowing doping may seem like the Enhanced Games are the wild Wild West, some rules are in place for competitors opting for drugs.
Those who are using substances are only allowed to use those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While the organizers are not releasing specific information on the drug regimen of athletes using performance-enhancement substances, reports say that athletes have used human growth hormones, testosterone, testosterone esters, metabolic modulators, Adderall, and more. While these are legal substances, they are banned by the WADA.
Additionally, some of the athletes competing are part of the Enhanced Performance Team, which gives select athletes who are doping with “monthly stipends, coaching, medical oversight, nutritional support, and training camps,” the company’s website says.
The “Steroid Olympics” are also set to offer more than just athletic performances. The games will conclude with a concert headlined by The Killers, with performance-enhancement substances like peptides—which have grown dramatically in popularity this year—available for sale for attendees.
