The Controversy of The Enhanced Games
The Enhanced Games, happening in Las Vegas from May 21-May 24 this year, is a “global annual competition that celebrates human potential through safe, transparent enhancement, offering fair play, record pay, and unmatched athlete care” according to the website of the Enhanced Games. Currently the roster consists of 14 athletes, although the games predict around 50 athletes will be competing across three sports: weightlifting, track, and swimming.
Reactions to the Enhanced Games have varied as athletes and others weigh in. Two-time Olympic medalist in swimming, Cody Miller joined the Enhanced Games for the prize money. Cody Miller said during a SwimSwam podcast that “it's harder to make a living now as a professional swimmer than it has ever been before.” Olympic medalist in swimming Ben Proud says a big reason he signed up was his age and motivation, saying “I’m 30 now, and I’ve done this for a long time. The motivation has dwindled in certain ways.” This is certainly a different take than Cody Miller, as Miller is going after these games for the money, but Proud wants a new opportunity to show his strength.
The prize money has been set by the Enhanced Games, where “Each individual event will carry a total prize purse of $500,000, with $250,000 awarded to first place.” While this is a lot of money, if a world record is broken, it’s an additional one million dollar bonus. This payout is certainly an incentive for many athletes.
What are athletes currently making as professionals, you might ask? In swimming specifically, the prize money varies based on country; however, according to swim pro, athletes are making “less than 1% of what a professional basketball or football player makes.” As far as the Olympics go, athletes in the US make just 25,000 dollars for a gold medal and according to ESPN, “World Aquatics in 2024 provided $71 million in prize money to 319 swimmers.” That’s on average about 222,000 dollars per athlete, which is a lot of money; however, it doesn’t nearly reach the amount of money that the Enhanced Games pays out.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), is the world organization that helps make sure that drugs don’t get brought into competitions such as the Olympics or World aquatics championships. They strongly disapprove of all acts that the Enhanced Games are doing saying, “Athletes serve as role models and WADA believes that this event sends a dangerous message to young people around the world.” According to WADA, athletes who join the Enhanced Games serve as bad role models and furthermore pose a risk to athletes' personal health. Twenty eight time olympic medalist Michael Phelps hasn’t directly commented on the Enhanced Games; however, he has stated a desire for anyone who is caught using performance enhancing drugs to have “a lifetime ban." This shows Phelps’ clear stance on performance-enhancing drugs.
There is still so much more to learn about these games, as well as how their performance enhancing drugs work. It is not 100 percent safe for athletes to use these drugs and is still dangerous to use them. While they are still set to happen, that could very easily change as there are many different points of views that could sway the decision of actually having these games. Stay tuned to see what happens with the Enhanced Games in May.