Two years after the controversial idea of the doping-encouraged Enhanced Video games entered the general public eye, Video games founder and president Dr. Aron D’Souza introduced the host metropolis and dates for its inaugural version: Las Vegas, Could 22–24, 2026.
The primary version of the Enhanced Video games will probably be held at Resorts World Las Vegas on the Strip, with all occasions happening in a custom-built competitors complicated contained in the lodge and on line casino. In contrast to the Olympic Video games, which characteristic 32 sports activities, the Enhanced Video games will restrict its program to only three: swimming, athletics and weightlifting.
Right here’s the complete listing of occasions:
- Swimming: 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m and 100m butterfly
- Monitor & Subject: 100m dash, 100m/110m hurdles
- Weightlifting: Snatch, Clear & Jerk
The complicated will embrace a four-lane, 50-metre pool, a six-lane dash observe, and a weightlifting stage. All occasions will probably be streamed globally in what D’Souza describes as an “immersive digital format” meant to reshape the way in which followers expertise sport.
“We reside in a world remodeled by science—from vaccines to AI,” stated D’Souza in a press launch. “However sport has stood nonetheless. Right now, we’re not updating the rulebook—we’re rewriting it. And we’re doing it safely, ethically and boldly.”
What are the Enhanced Video games?
In accordance with their web site, “The Enhanced Video games promotes the usage of science and focuses on core sports activities, aiming to interrupt world data and guarantee truthful compensation for athletes.” They argue that performance-enhancing medication, when used responsibly, can considerably improve coaching outcomes and permit athletes to succeed in their full potential.
D’Souza stated his motive behind creating the Enhanced Video games goes past simply athletes utilizing medication. He needs to design a modernized science-driven occasion for social media and broadcast tv, which he hopes will enchantment to the general public’s quick consideration spans. D’Souza isn’t the one man behind the mission; his idea has attracted a number of Silicon Valley traders, together with German-American billionaire and co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, and the son of the present U.S. president, Donald Trump Jr., who’ve each invested a single-digit million-dollar determine into the enterprise.
In a March 2024 interview with Canadian Working, D’Souza stated these Video games will probably be constructed on giving athletes the popularity and compensation they deserve: “For the quantity of labor these athletes must put in, they aren’t compensated for it (in comparison with skilled athletes in different sports activities). They don’t have skilled leagues, and get little to no recognition for his or her performances.”
Every of the 9 occasions will carry a prize purse of US$500,000, with US$250,000 awarded to first place. As well as, the Enhanced Video games will provide look charges and record-breaking bonuses, together with US$1,000,000 for breaking world data within the 100m dash (observe) and 50m freestyle (swim)–what D’Souza signifies are the 2 definitive checks of uncooked human pace.
In accordance with D’Souza, 4 of the ten quickest 100-metre sprinters in historical past have approached him, and he hopes to have a roster of 100 athletes throughout the 9 disciplines come subsequent yr.
The criticism
The Enhanced Video games have confronted widespread criticism from senior figures in anti-doping and sports activities, together with World Athletics president Sebastian Coe. The athletics head didn’t mince phrases, calling the doping-encouraged competitors “bollocks” and “a harmful clown present.”
Travis Tygart, chief govt of the U.S. Anti-Doping Company (USADA), echoed Coe, calling it a “clown present”, and the World Anti-Doping Company described it as a “harmful and irresponsible mission”.
On the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Coe warned that any athlete collaborating within the Enhanced Video games would face a prolonged ban from athletics. World Aquatics (previously FINA) additionally condemned the occasion, stating that if any of its athletes took half, they might be banned from competitors.
