What would a sport look like in which the consumption of hitherto prohibited substances is allowed? There are no doping scandals, excruciating midnight controls and endlessly long suspensions, just raw athleticism that tests the limits of the human body and mind.
Carried by that thought, in December 2022, at a party in Miami, the idea of Enhanced games, or on our "Advanced Games".
Its creators devised a project that should show what Olympism would look like in which there are no privileged, nor "hypocritical" sports governing bodies, in which everyone is equal and in which everyone (and what is more important - everything) is allowed and available.
It all sounds like it came out of Lennon's songs, however, as is usually the case with such sensitive subjects, in a collision of real intentions Enhanced games and conventional sports systems, created a mountain of controversies that even caused a moral panic among athletes, institutions and the public.
"Anything is possible, except cocaine and heroin"
Enhanced games is a concept created by Australian multi-billionaire Aaron D'Souza. His idea was to organize a sports competition, mainly basic Olympic sports, in which the use of "performance-enhancing substances" considered illegal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (read doping), would be allowed and medically controlled. Everything except cocaine and heroin, as they stated on one occasion.
The idea, according to the organizers, is to enable athletes, in addition to good earnings, to reach their full performance potential, which in "corrupt" traditional sports is the privilege of the few.
"Scientific and technological achievements can be safely applied in sports. The use of this in top competition should be accepted and celebrated," it says on their website, where it is emphasized that the entire project takes place under strictly controlled medical supervision.
First Enhanced games are scheduled for May next year in Las Vegas and will include competitions in swimming, athletics and weightlifting. Training camps and laboratories are already working at full speed.
From "circus" to "death"
Enhanced games were taken by many as a finger in the eye. The president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) - which was the main target of criticism of the founders of the "Advanced Games" - Witold Banjka announced that the idea was "absurd and dangerous".
WADA then together with the International Olympic Committee issued an official statement stating that they Enhanced games "betrayal" of everything they stand for.
"Promoting performance-enhancing substances and methods sends a dangerous message, especially to current and future generations of athletes. Such substances can lead to serious long-term health consequences and even death," they said in a statement.
The World Swimming Federation announced that athletes who enter this program will be banned for life from participating in official competitions.
"Enhanced Games they are not a sports competition based on universal values such as honesty, fair play and equality. It's a circus that celebrates shortcuts," they said.
This idea encountered the greatest resistance in the general public, among sports fans. The public sees such an event as a desecration of the very idea of sport, while those who approach the "dark side" are considered immoral.
Paradoxically, the least division arose among the athletes themselves. Although many of them are very critical, it is still clear to everyone that there are shortcomings in the functioning of the institutions of traditional sports, as well as the fact that not much can be earned from it.
Peter Thiel, Donald Trump Jr. and a Saudi prince
The fact that traditional basic sports are paid little is perhaps the most important thing to remember for the continuation of the story of Enhanced games. Big money is at stake, and there is no big money without big investors. This is where the story gets even more muddled.
In addition to the mastermind D'Souza (who says he doesn't even drink coffee), the project also involved Donald Trump Jr., the son of the 45th and 47th presidents of the United States, who said on his behalf that "Enhanced games the future of sport".
"It's about excellence, innovation and American dominance on the world stage, which is exactly what the MAGA movement stands for," Trump Jr. added.
There are also, among others, Peter Thiel, a businessman with controversial affairs and even more controversial political views, whom some consider "the most influential shadow man in Silicon Valley", as well as Balaji Srinivasan, Christian Angermeier and Saudi Prince Khalid bin Alwaleed Al Saud.
Therefore, it is a question of capital players, almost all of them more or less interested in jobs in biotechnology, health and supplementation, which to some extent gives the sports community the right to read the project as part of a wider business model.
"The fastest swimmer of all time"
So far, 12 athletes have entered the protocol - eight swimmers, and two each from athletics and powerlifting. Some of them, such as swimmer James Magnussen, Benjamin Proud and sprinter Fred Kerley, are already Olympic medalists. The offers, depending on the "media capital" of the athlete, were different, but the prize for breaking the current official world records is the same for everyone - one million dollars.
The first to get scalded was the Greek swimmer Christian Golomeyev, finalist of the Olympic Games, vice-champion of the world and champion of Europe. Golomeyev was the main protagonist of the first breakthrough Enhanced games to the general public, when he unofficially broke the world record in the 50-meter freestyle.
Although the record was, of course, not recognized due to doping, since that day Golomeyev presents himself as "the fastest swimmer of all time", which irritates both his colleagues and the swimming public. Provocativeness is the card that the PR team of this organization plays most often.
However, after seeing a ton of negative comments, his wife released a statement stating that it was purely a business decision and that her husband earned more in those 20.89 seconds than in 13 years of professional swimming.
To be or not to be
Whoever joined "Advanced Games", and was honest with himself and the people who follow him, cited finance as the main motive. The fact is that in athletics, swimming, and only in weightlifting, only a small number of Olympians earn big, while the majority earn at the reserve level in the second football league of Serbia.
However, the news that Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers turned down a two and a half million dollar offer to compete in Las Vegas was celebrated by the swimming ecosystem as a heroic move. The story of Enhanced games it acquired a moral dimension. Some have "sold out" and some have remained "consistent".
In this general moral panic, the sports establishment lost the most, which through long-term sloppiness allowed itself to have many arguments Enhanced games serves to be factually accurate. If the traditional sport was really "clean" and its athletes were respected enough, this bizarre show of eccentric rich people in Las Vegas, instead of being a threat, could even be interesting to watch.
