The Enhanced Games, held in Las Vegas, mark a radical departure from traditional elite sports by allowing the use of legal performance-enhancing drugs like testosterone and human growth hormone. Organized by entrepreneurs Aron D'Souza and Maximilian Martin, the event features 42 top athletes, including US sprinter Fred Kerley and British swimmer Ben Proud, competing for a total of $25 million in prize money — with $1 million bonuses for breaking world records. Unlike the Olympics, where doping is strictly banned, this competition promotes full disclosure of drug use, arguing that doping already happens in secret across elite sports.

Supporters, including billionaire investor Peter Thiel, frame the event as a transparent alternative to what they see as a flawed anti-doping system. However, health experts and sports authorities, including USADA and UK Anti-Doping, have condemned the games, warning of serious health risks and a threat to the integrity of sport. British swimmer Proud, a 2024 Olympic silver medalist, says the financial incentive is unmatched — noting it would take over a decade of championship wins to earn what the Enhanced Games offer in one weekend.

Not all athletes are doping: American swimmer Hunter Armstrong plans to compete clean, hoping to preserve eligibility for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Meanwhile, the company behind the games, Enhanced, has begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange and is selling performance-enhancing supplements, raising broader concerns about the normalization of drug use in society, especially among young people influenced by social media and body image pressures.