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It's Like the Olympics - But Steroids Are Allowed (npr.org) 154

Posted by EditorDavid from the give-it-a-shot dept.
"Think Olympics on steroids. Literally," quips the BBC, describing Sunday's controversial Enhanced Games event in Las Vegas featuring dozens of athletes "using performance-enhancing drugs to try and break world records in track, weightlifting and swimming. Some $25m (£18.6m) in prize money is up for grabs — with cash prizes for winners... The drugs they use must be legal, and approved by the Federal Drug Administration. But substances like testosterone and human growth hormone — banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency — are not only celebrated here, they're encouraged and for sale...

Health experts warn that anabolic steroids and growth hormones can cause strokes and cardiovascular damage, among other risks. Event organisers claim Enhanced will push the limits of human performance while critics, especially in the Olympic movement, dismiss it as an affront to the spirit and founding principles of competitive sport...

Earlier this month, the Enhanced Group — the company behind the competition — began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. And the competition is seemingly being treated as an opportunity for Enhanced to sell performance-enhancing medicine and supplements online.
"The project was founded by entrepreneurs Aron D'Souza and Maximilian Martin in 2023," the artidcle points out, "and has attracted backing from prominent investors including billionaire Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr."

And NPR adds that "Most of the participating athletes trained for the competition in Abu Dhabi, as part of Enhanced's own study." Enhanced did not break down what specific athletes used which drugs, but they announced on Wednesday in the lead-up to the event that 91% of the athletes competing used testosterone or testosterone esters, 79% used human growth hormone, and 62% used stimulants, such as adderall...

The games have been largely panned by outside medical experts and sports governing bodies. Multiple recent studies assess the harm surrounding the Enhanced Games. Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, called the games a "dangerous clown show that puts profit over principle" in a statement. The International Olympic Committee said the games are a "betrayal of everything that we stand for." The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) last year urged U.S. authorities to stop the games. The International Federation of Sports Medicine said in 2024 that they see the medical oversight as "insufficient" to support the athletes.
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It's Like the Olympics - But Steroids Are Allowed More

It's Like the Olympics - But Steroids Are Allowed

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  • Dance for me. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dinfinity ( 2300094 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @04:03AM (#66159346)

    We're really speedrunning all the dystopian scenarios, aren't we?

    • Waiting for 100m hurdles on coke and 200m freestyle on speed. Maybe a triathlon on crack, that'd be fun!

      • Re: Dance for me. (Score:5, Informative)

        by phantomfive ( 622387 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @07:49AM (#66159508) Journal
        Athletes used to use amphetamines for sports before it was illegal. People [wikipedia.org] died [wikipedia.org].

        The amphetamines let you push through the pain, but pain can be a signal that you're in trouble and shouldn't push more.

        • Don't worry, the gladiators will be expendable.

          • Re: Dance for me. (Score:5, Insightful)

            by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @01:09PM (#66159840) Journal
            They already pretty much are. You have to do at least a little performative fretting about the risks, which spoils the enjoyment of pure cheering at the best crunching sounds; but there's no way we'd justify the level of recreational head trauma something like football produces if we didn't fundamentally regard the players as relevant only the the way racehorses are.
        • Oh, people are DEFINITELY gonna die and wreck their bodies in gruesome ways if this event becomes an established thing. Im not sure how to feel about this. One one hand, it feels icky and dystopian because of the chemical enhancement. On the other hand, how different is it from MMA? Bloodsport has been a thing for literally thousands of years.

      • Waiting for 100m hurdles on coke and 200m freestyle on speed. Maybe a triathlon on crack, that'd be fun!

        LOL, yeah.

        But TFS does say: "The drugs they use must be legal, and approved by the Federal Drug Administration." Those don't qualify.

        That doesn't give me much assurance though. I just hope this abomination of a sports competition withers away after one go.

      • Waiting for 100m hurdles on coke and 200m freestyle on speed. Maybe a triathlon on crack, that'd be fun!

        You should read up on the history of the Tour de France. Those original runs were coke fueled insanity, with horse tranquilizers used so the athletes could sleep each night, only to wake up, suck up as many uppers as they could with breakfast, and do it all over again. It's amazing there weren't more deaths on the course, the way they abused themselves to pull off those runs.

    • I'm sure I've read something very similar in a sci-fi novel before... The future arrived at last.

    • If done properly under a doctor supervision. Every single sport is using steroids they're just pretending they don't. And we pretend with them. In wrestling they call it kayfabe.

      I noticed it when I noticed that the trans women athletes were getting their asses handed to them if they had been on their hormones for any length of time. It's because the hormones that correct their medical condition also conflict with the steroids they need to be competitive and they quickly get to a point where they can't c

      • And you think medical supervision will be enough? Once any amount of steroids is tolerated, there will be people who go beyond to get that extra edge, regardless of medical supervision.

        I do not know what the proper answer is, but this is not it.

      • It's why trans women in sports is a complete non-issue.

        To play devil's advocate, trans women in sports isn't just about hormones and steroids. It's also about physical differences. For example, trans women tend to be taller than other women, giving them a physical advantage in many kinds of sports. That has nothing to do with hormones or enhancement.

    • Re:Dance for me. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by SoftwareArtist ( 1472499 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @11:59AM (#66159776)

      To be fair (in a very cynical sort of way), is this really any different from boxing? People are paid to hurt themselves while crowds of spectators cheer them on. It's disgusting, but we've been doing it for a long time.

    • I guess we can add a whole new category to the Darwin Awards.

  • Freak shows are back (Score:4, Insightful)

    by kkoo ( 4352157 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @04:11AM (#66159348)
    except rather than the performers suffering genetic defects, diabilities, injuries or faking it, these people are deliberately harming themselves for their own benefit and the entertainment of gouls.

    • Are you not entertained?

  • And the winner gets a .... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MxMatrix ( 1303567 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @04:11AM (#66159350)

    .... Darwin award!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by higuita ( 129722 )

      Exactly!! but not just the winner , they all win!

    • Overdosing on juicing alone can win the award without any sport contest participation.

    • Probably it will be a posthumous Darwin award.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by msauve ( 701917 )
        Those are the best kind. Natural selection and all...

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        Probably it will be a posthumous Darwin award.

        I don't think there have been any Darwin awards that were not awarded posthumously. The award requires you to have removed yourself from the gene pool in order to be considered for the award.

        • It's the significantly less common case, for some combination of a lot of high-visibility stupidity being lethal and lethal accidents being public in ways that the details of nonlethal accidents aren't; but destruction of gonads under sufficiently foolish circumstances qualifies a living recipient.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Teun ( 17872 )
      The winner would be the manufacturer of the dope.
      So that's where your award goes.
  • This is the wealth continuing what Josef Mengele started.
    By calling them athletes and offering petty prizes they can see what works and what does not while experimenting on them...legally...

    And what works to extend life will be hoarded by them.

    This is just billionaires being afraid of dying...

  • Wait, I remember this being an SNL Sketch (Score:3, Informative)

    by ddrucker ( 618927 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @04:35AM (#66159358) Homepage
    Truth is stranger than fiction. I'm positive that Saturday Night Live did a sketch about pretty much this idea. I never forgot it because of the visual punchline. There's a weightlifter who's on a 'cocktail' of steroids, pain-killers and a host of other extremely suspect substances, as the commentator describes, and the person in a big 'muscle suit' with sweats, etc. (like the Hans and Franz of other sketches) starts to lift the unbelievable amount of weight and... their arms rip-off at the torso, as fake blood spurts all over the scene. It's horrifying and hysterical all at the same moment, partly because it's so obviously fake (thank goodness). Still, I never forgot it.
  • Why not just allow them to design a rocket pack and use it for high or long jump, or allow flippers or propellers for swimming? It's synthetic either way.
    • I was going to enter the marathon in my car.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by kackle ( 910159 )
        Me too! And then we can see who wins! Maybe we can call such an event something different...

    • It's only synthetic in that the extra muscle mass or endurance offered is not attained naturally. It's still bone and muscle developed through additional capacity for training.

      • So? At that point there isn't much difference. You are just cheering for the person who took the most drugs or the person who built the best rocket, not the person who has the best skill.

      • Next, the CRISPR Games... "It's only synthetic in that the extra muscle mass or endurance offered is not attained naturally. It's still bone and muscle developed through additional capacity for training."

  • Essentially deeply dirty "sports". No, thanks.

  • Because it's not cheating.
  • ... until one of these competitors drops dead, ends up in a coma, or suffers a psychotic break thanks to the garbage these organizers helped put in their bodies. The lawsuits will be spectacular especially if a competitor kills, injures or harms somebody who isn't covered by a waiver.

  • ... it's not as though high level sports don't already select for genetic freaks.

  • The Truth about Records! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by burni2 ( 1643061 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @08:06AM (#66159522)

    You will only be able to break them with "enhancement" IN COMBINATION WITH TALENT and TRAINING / you need to be already in the upper echelon.

    So I think the enhancement games will quickly die off pure boredom.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by schwit1 ( 797399 )

      Exactly. The top 2% will not take PEDs because it would disqualify them from the clean Olympics, which means no records will get broken.

      • Exactly. The top 2% will not take PEDs because it would disqualify them from the clean Olympics, which means no records will get broken.

        Actually the top 1% of college athletes are probably the target. According to google, only 0.05% of all NCAA athletes qualify for the olympics, so if you're not in the top 0.5% you are probably not even on the tryout list.

    • Agree they'll die off (and at that point most will agree 'okay that was a bad idea'..) but depending on the sport, PEDs really can make someone 'exceptional' with minimal training.

      EPO and cycling (or any endurance sport) is a good example. An average cyclist can get a HUGE boost by upping their red blood cells...add in blood bags, and you'd be surprised how close to 'world class' the average person could get in a very short amount of time. Assuming they don't kill themselves in the process. But it's all 'le

      • Lance is that you???? Seriously, Armstrong was infamous for this. Everyone knew, but his fans were the ultimate deniers. I had a friend who loved him. I'm not positive she thought he was using even after he admitted it. I on the other hand said right after he started winning after cancer that he was on juice.

        • Exactly, he's the perfect example. He's not particularly gifted, was fairly strong, but certainly not on the trajectory to win the Tour de France, let alone make a team to ride it.

          Cheating with EPO is what made the difference. I believe the doctor is quoted as saying something along the lines of 'don't even bother training, just use this, and you'll win'.

          So yeah, these Doping Olympics are a joke.

  • Well, technically that is the entire point of some of the major sports in the world, and it would be problematic to say that deliberately causing brain damage for competition is ok in one sport but not in another.

    On the other hand, I am not altogether convinced it should be openly encouraged in any sport.

    This is a tricky one, because I would also argue that I should have no say in what a person does to their own body for their own reasons, that my firm belief that people should have bodily autonomy when it causes no actual harm to others does not permit me to condemn others for doing stuff to their own body for their own reasons when it does no actual harm to others even if it's a context I don't agree with.

    Given that (ethically) I cannot condone wilful irreversable damage but (ethically) cannot condemn personal choises that harm nobody else, the obvious conclusion is that I don't believe such sports should be actively promoted or encouraged, but that what individuals do in the privacy of a private sporting event should not concern those outside until or unless actual harm outside of those events occurs.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      people should have bodily autonomy when it causes no actual harm to others does not permit me to condemn others for doing stuff to their own body for their own reasons when it does no actual harm to others even if it's a context I don't agree with.

      Unless we are expected to pay for the rehabilitation and ongoing care for those people who exercised that autonomy under some form of socialized medical care.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by jd ( 1658 )

        Smokers are deprioritised on lung transplant lists. Foreigners have to pay. So we've already got differential service. We just say that sportsfolk who knowingly and deliberately inflict damage on themselves in such contests get lower priority on medical procedure lists as well.

        Not removed - they've paid national insurance - but all procedures are on a prioritised queue already, just given them a low priority. (No, not in the UNIX sense.)

        They'll get seen to, when service permits. Of course, there'd be more s

  • Surely, Slashdot is allowed to take spell checkers?

    • Surely, Slashdot is allowed to take spell checkers?

      Under strict supervision, yes. Unfortunately there is no supervision left as there are only two people working for slashdot and they both have real jobs in the outside world that pay the bills (Taco of course left years ago).

      And don't ask about the unicode support they were working on 20 years ago...

  • Better Athletes through Chemistry (Score:5, Funny)

    by sizzzzlerz ( 714878 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @09:44AM (#66159620)

    The opening ceremonies to be hosted by Lance Armtrong, Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa. Entertainment provided by the East German Women's Shotput team.

  • The venues will be protected by guards wielding those large electric cattle prods used in Jurassic Park to attempt to calm 'roid rage occurances.

  • I find it funny that a group of people who don't trust vaccines will support injecting various other compounds into their bodies. Where is the logic here?

    At one point we just need to let things run their course. Perhaps we just need to stop saving these people from themselves.

    I know I sound like a monster, but you can't save people who don't want to be saved. Sometimes you need to let people drive off that cliff if they want to ignore you waiving at them by the side of the road.

    If they die, they die.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      people who don't trust vaccines

      Generally, these people tend not to trust other sorts of drugs either. The exception was the old left wing "anti-vaxers" who were following some coldly calculated logic: Vaccines may work. But there is also a very small probability of side effects. Better that the less advantaged take a vax and build up a herd immunity which will benefit me and my offspring. And let those riff-raff contend with the autism and other side effects. My little precious is too valuable to risk.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Misagon ( 1135 )

      What makes you sure that these billionaires don't take vaccines themselves?

      The anti-vaxxing movement was created to keep the pleb population from over-spilling. /s

      • Re: the anti-vaxx Plandemic (Score:4, Informative)

        by databasecowgirl ( 5241735 ) on Tuesday May 26, 2026 @03:17PM (#66161342)
        Actually it was started by a British doctor, Andrew Wakefield, who was paid nearly a half million pounds by a lawyer fishing for a lawsuit against a vaccine maker who gave him a dozen files, 8 of which had autism.

        From this, Wakefield decided to make his case that vaccines caused autism using more fraud and Hollywood influencers to create a scare.

        He was eventually discredited, lost his license to practice, and moved to Texas to become central to the wellness movement. As a result Texas has had some 3/4 million measles cases and two deaths in otherwise healthy children.

        I'm not saying it's not a conspiracy backed by money. Money is definitely a motive. But if there really is a Plandemic, promoting medical mistrust is the first step.

        https://www.thetimes.com/us/ne... [thetimes.com]
  • I am on /. because I fucking hate sports. Some are kinda fun to play...in the same way Brussel sprouts CAN be tasty, but they will never match a good burger or donut. I don't enjoy watching them. I'm a nerd. I don't give a rat's ass. Watching the game swilling beer and chomping fried foods waiting for the heart attack to take you isn't my idea of a good time. That's what the bullies who beat me up as a child did.

    But my perspective aside, I am neutral on performance enhancing drugs. You know that

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by pz ( 113803 )

      Yours is a far more eloquent way of saying what I had intended to: why is this on Slashdot? Is there any relevance at all? I fail to see it.

      If these athletes were coached by AI, well... maybe, but that's a stretch. But they're not; they are just taking more extreme measures to performance enhancement than other athletes. And while I know (and employ) some smart jocks, I had the same experience as you in secondary school, because I, too, was not a jock.

  • SNL covered this long ago (Score:3)

    by Slashythenkilly ( 7027842 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @12:02PM (#66159782)
    Thought it was a joke but here we are.... https://youtu.be/jAdG-iTilWU?s... [youtu.be]

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )
      I don't understand the opposition to this at all. You just keep 2 sets of records: one for people who take drugs and those who don't. Those who take them get to show what the human body is capable with enhancements and those who don't get to show off what it can do without them. Having a legal outlet for those who allow those to take them may actually reduce the incentives for them being used in the Olympics.
      • If there was no opposition, there would be no end to the quantity and type of enhancements competitors would use to get their 15 minutes of fame. Its dangerous, its stupid, completely unsustainable not to mention the fact that it distorts the true measure of discipline, athleticism, and what the human body is capable of. Genetics lends enough advantage to certain classes thats its already no contest to the average person.

  • "Think Olympics on steroids. Literally,"

    ... the Olympics on meth. Literally.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dbialac ( 320955 )

      the Olympics on meth.

      Yeah, nothing like losing all of your teeth except for the two blue ones left so you can bite the gold metal.

  • Given the explosion of sports betting, how long will it be before there's a lottery to pick the first athlete to die of a stroke or heart failure that can be linked clearly to performance enhancing drugs?

    Put me down for a hundred bucks, a weight lifter and October 31, 2028.

  • enough to know (Score:3)

    by anadem ( 143644 ) <anadem@@@gmail...com> on Monday May 25, 2026 @06:18PM (#66160136)

    "prominent investors including billionaire Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr." .. need any more be said?

  • Cash Prizes (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nuckfuts ( 690967 ) on Monday May 25, 2026 @06:51PM (#66160172)

    Some $25m (£18.6m) in prize money is up for grabs — with cash prizes for winners.

    I heard one of the participants interviewed on the radio. While he's been struggling to break records in the Olympics, he sees other people winning million dollar prizes in enhanced competitions. He pointed out realistically how many years of winning it would take him to possibly earn a million dollars by more conventional competition. I'm not saying I approve of the enhanced events, but I could understand his perspective. Ultimately it's his body, his choice.

  • The International Olympic Committee said the games are a "betrayal of everything that we stand for."

    They can't betray something they never subscribed to in the first place. What you stand for isn't really important here. And you are not being asked to stand for what they do.

  • "The all drug olympics", very funny bit :)

  • Ivan Drago (Score:3)

    by Pezbian ( 1641885 ) on Tuesday May 26, 2026 @04:05PM (#66161420)

    "If he dies... he dies."

  • This one's interesting on several levels. I mean, for starters? We already know most competitive sports involve people taking various drugs and supplements in an attempt to get an edge. So it's a lie and a farce when the Olympic committee or the Major League Baseball association or anyone else doing pro sports claims we're watching athletes who achieved everything they do 100% naturally.

    Viewed that way, I can see how holding a "performance enhanced Olympics" challenges that and calls it out. Essentially, i

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