Las Vegas welcomes "Augmented games"global competition where doping is encouraged

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In the city of sin, excess no longer has limits. To the explosive cocktails of money and entertainment, we must now add doping products. Las Vegas hosts the Enhanced Games. Understand: Augmented Games. The first world competition where doping is not only permitted, but strongly encouraged.

A few hours before the competition, last training for the weightlifters. It has already been eight weeks since Leydi Solis, Colombian Olympic medalist in 2008, has been taking anabolic products, and she assumes: “Since then, I have lost a lot of fat in my arms, but also in my waist. I am more muscular, the same in my legs. My goal is to push my limits as much as possible, to become a superwoman.” She assures that she has never cheated in an official tournament and just wants to follow other rules. “At least here, everything is transparent and legal”she adds.

Doping to become stronger, pushing your body further and further and demonstrating it in front of the whole world. On the famous Las Vegas Strip, a temporary enclosure was built especially for the event. Under the floodlights, the 100 m track adjoins the swimming pool. The arena looks nothing like a typical sports complex. For the swimming pool, for example, there are only four lines of water, because the objective is not to win against a multitude of competitors, but to break records to win the jackpot.

And the contract is very profitable for athletes. A five-figure salary paid every month, regardless of results, and up to a million dollars for a broken record. Forty-two athletes signed, thereby banning themselves from all further international competitions. And among them, a Frenchman: the sprinter Mouhamadou Fall, suspended by the anti-doping agency because on three occasions he had not indicated his address even though he was required to do so in order to undergo an unannounced test. He has always proclaimed his innocence. Today, he claims to want to know how far his body can go. “You recover maybe three or four times more. So, it’s incredible. And for me, the science side fascinates and interests me”he says.

Doping, but at what cost? The exact protocol has not been revealed, but products such as steroids or EPO are used, with potentially serious side effects according to the WHO: cardiac risks, dependence, infertility. In front of cameras around the world, the organization’s chief doctor claims to follow the athletes closely with very strict dosages. When our journalist questions him: “How do you guarantee, without long-term study, that there will be no effects for athletes in 5, 10 or 20 years?” Professor Guido Pieles, cardiologist and head of the Enhanced Games medical commission, defends: “Yes, you are right. More knowledge is needed on this. But to say that it is very risky and irresponsible is not true. Our study has been approved and we use internationally recognized scientific methods.”

Behind this project, a publicly transhumanist billionaire who wants to use this competition as a showcase. According to the event website, doping products are already on sale over the counter. “Is this a business where we use athletes and sports in general as a means of doing business? Oh yes! But unfortunately, I’m not the first”, underlines Christian Angermayer, investor and co-founder of Enhanced Games.

The competition is scheduled to begin on May 24 in the arena. The International Olympic Committee called the event “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”