A new competition resembling the Olympics is set to be established, but it will allow athletes to use all banned substances while competing.
For decades, one of the biggest challenges in the officiating of professional sports has been ensuring that there is always a level playing field and nobody abuses drugs or other substances to gain an advantage.
Recently, the likes of tennis prodigy Jannik Sinner and former Manchester United star Paul Pogba have faced lengthy bans due to taking banned substances, but there is perhaps no other sporting event that is more strict about doping than the Olympics.
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However, the formation of a new elite competition threatens to challenge the Olympics as it offers athletes an alternate option, to compete in sports where the use of drugs is not only permitted, but encouraged.
Around one third of the 10,000+ athletes that competed in the Paris Olympics Games were tested for drugs over the summer, with only five of them returning positive results.
But if these athletes were to compete in the 'Enhanced Games,' a new competition which aims to show off the best of human advancement in sport, then they would have been able to continue to take banned substances throughout training and the competition itself.
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Aron D’Souza, president of the Enhanced Games, argues that the use of performance-enhancing drugs is simply the reality of modern sport as athletes look for any competitive edge, and they should therefore be encouraged, rather than prohibited.
Speaking to the Financial Times, D’Souza said: “The world is beginning to see that we have a right, we may even have a duty, to become enhanced.
“And it’s not scary. It’s not cheating, it’s not breaking the rules, it’s just inventing a new set of rules.”
As it stands, the Games would consist of only swimming, track and field, and strength events, but it would also look to include both mixed martial arts and boxing in the near future.
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The proposal has support from billionaire investor Peter Thiel, as well as Donald Trump Jr, who joined the project this month.
“This is about excellence, innovation and American dominance on the world stage — something the Maga movement is all about,” Trump Jr said in a press release.
However, it remains to be seen whether the Enhanced Games is a real possibility, or simply an idea that never comes to fruition, and with swimmer James Magnussen the only athlete publicly supporting the competition, it looks increasingly likely that it may be the latter.
Ben McCrum