Someone wondered what would happen if we allowed all athletes to do. The result is already here: improved games

“Imagine that a 60 -year -old beat the Usain Bolt world record.” Sounds crazy, but that is the phrase that left last year during An interview with The Guardian Aron d´souza, the founder, president and visible face of Enhanced. His words matter because D´Souza is organizing, with the support of some outstanding investors, the Improved games (Enhancend Games), a sports competition that will open the door for your athletes to dop and consume drugs prohibited by sports federations.

The objective is the one that D´Souza commented: to knock down barriers and leave behind the brands of Usain Bolt or other apparently unbeatable plusmarks on the tracks. The idea, of course, has generated a huge stir and has already led to international experts and agencies to alert of its dangers.

Las Vegas, May 2026. That is the city and the date on which improved games want to make their great start. In An act held this week at Resort World Las Vegas, D´Souza and his team announced that the first competition open to the consumption of drugs vetoed by the sports federations will be held next year, between May 21 and 26in “The city of sin.” More specifically, in a complex built for tests within the Resorts world las vegas With clues and pool.

A for world records. There the athletes who participate in the tournament will compete in three disciplines: swimming, athletics and lostfilia, with different categories in each. For that purpose, the organizers will prepare a 50 -meter pool with four lanes, a six -lane speed track, a special scenario for weightlifting and something so (or even more important): A succulent list of metallic awards.

In addition to the premiums for participating, Enhanced will offer a reward of $ 500,000 per proof, of which 250,000 will go to the pocket of the first classified. If any of the athletes hit a world record in the “definitive tests” (100 meters smooth and 50 m free) will also pocket a gratification of one million dollars. The objective is evident: spray plusmarks. For now and to open appetite, the organizers They assure that one of its swimmers has already managed to overcome a 2009 record.

The keyword: doping. What defines improved games is not who, where and when they organize, but how they raise the tests. Its great hallmark is that they open the door to the use of drugs or treatments vetoed in official competitions. “Unlike traditional sports agencies, Enhanced does not prohibit substances that improve performance, but also bring them to light, with total transparency, safety and medical supervision,” Underline.

Throughout the last months the organizers They have stressed that treatments will not be administered “in any way” and athletes will have to pass “thorough medical recognitions.” In The same report of The Guardian in which D´Souza talked about breaking Bolt’s records even states that organizers will not accept illegal substances and their drugs must have been legally prescribed. Of course, compliance with the standards seems to depend on the collaboration of athletes.

“Sport stagnated”. Although the appointment has generated A considerable controversythe organizers have loaded it as an epic and insist that their goal is to open horizons. “We live in a world transformed by science, from vaccines to AI. But sport has stagnated. Until today. We are not updating the regulation, we are rewriting it,” claims D´Souza. Enhanced’s website includes other ideas Roundsuch as “superhumanity” or “future of sport.” “We are creating a new category of excellence, a world where drugs to improve performance are used safely, open and supervised.”

“In 1896 Baron Pierre de Coubertin reinvented the old Olympic Games for his time, an era of nationalisms,” Reflect. “Now we are reinventing the Olympic Games again … to create a completely new formula, not sport, but of humanity.”

Apart ideas, the truth is that the organization He has recognized who hopes to enter millions of dollars for the issuance rights and in The same statement in which he informs of the first improved games slides that plans to launch at the end of this summer a company dedicated to “improved performance products”.

“Dangerous, not very ethical and harmful”. Not everyone shares the enthusiasm of D´Souza and his team. On the contrary. Since Enhanced revealed his plans and especially after the confirmation of his first “games”, there have been few voices that have risen to pronounce against the idea. This week the Sport Australia Athlete Advisory Group He warned that “the normalization” of drugs to improve performance “promotes doping as entertainment, putting athletes at risk, and devalues ​​the efforts of those who choose to compete clean.”

For the organism, the concept of improved games is “dangerous, not very ethical and harmful.” And it is not the most resounding opinion about it. Travis Tygart, Executive Director of the US Anti -Doping Agency, He thinks that the initiative is “a dangerous clown show, not really sport” and the world anti -doping agency speaks of “dangerous and irresponsible project.” Others They pull irony And they have baptized the Enhanced Games of “steroid Olympics.”

An appointment, several names. If the improved games have achieved so much impact is not only because of their challenging and controversial approach. To its visibility has helped (and much) that Enhanced has managed to embark in the initiative some prominent names of the world of finance and sport. Among the first figure Peter Thievel either Donald Trump Jr. Among the second, the Australian swimmer James Magnussentwice world champion of 100 m free. And to him others have joined such as the Ukrainian plusmarchist Andrii Govorov or the Bulgarian Josif Miladinov, European silver in 100 butterfly.

One of the names that have sounded the most in recent days has been however that of Greek Olympic swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev, who According to Enhanced He has already managed to break the world record of 50 m free with a mark of 20.89 seconds, which would exceed the one achieved in 2009 by Cesar Cielo. The BBC points out that, among other resources, Gkolomeev, 31, resorted to a SUPPLY of polyurethane forbidden by swimming regulators for years. In another attempt I would also have achieved another historical brand using Jammers.

The controversy, served. None of these brands will appear in the official records of the World Aquatics, although Gkolomeev says that the idea is not to conquer only plusmarks and spray times. “It’s not just about beating records. It’s about overcoming limits. Improved games gave me the resources and equipment to achieve a new level of performance. And now everyone can see what is possible,” Defend the athletewhich has received a prize of one million dollars as part of the “incentive model for athletes” of the Enhanced.

In the background they continue to beat the same questions that accompany the improved games: are they safe and ethical? Do they respect the spirit of sport?

Images | Enhanced

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