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The 'Steroid Olympics' are coming and winners make huge amounts of money

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
May 21 2025, 10:07 pm
The 'Steroid Olympics' are coming and winners make huge amounts of money
James Lang/USA TODAY Sports

The Olympics have a new competitor on the way — even if it might sound like the type of idea your strange friend would suggest at 3 a.m.

The Enhanced Games are coming to the United States in 2026. A four-day event will be held from May 21 to 24 next year at Resorts World Las Vegas.

The Enhanced Games are pretty much exactly what they sound like: an Olympic offshoot where there are no limitations on the types of performance-enhancing drugs that competitors can take.

While the idea had been announced in June 2023, organizers today confirmed the host city and planned dates for the first event of its kind.

“The Enhanced Games are not just a competition – they’re a movement,” Aron D’Souza, President and founder of the Enhanced Games, said in a release.”We’re embracing the full spectrum of human potential, and that begins with transparency, science, and choice. The Time Is Now.”

Three sports will highlight the initial Enhanced Games, with nine events in both men’s and women’s disciplines.

  • Swimming: 50m and 100m Freestyle, 50m and 100m Butterfly
  • Track & Field: 100m Sprint, 100m/110m Hurdles
  • Weightlifting: Snatch, Clean & Jerk

Each individual event will carry a total prize purse of US $500,000, with US $250,000 set aside for each gold medal winner. Competitors of the 500m freestyle and 100m sprint will also take place in a race for US $1,000,000 side purse if they are able to break the non-doping world record in either event.

Cash prizes are not awarded by the IOC for Olympic medals, though individual countries often offer financial incentives to their athletes.

The event is funded by private investors, including a group called  1789 Capital that features Donald Trump Jr., as reported by The Guardian and other outlets.

One of the spokespeople for the event is Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev, who represented his country at the 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 Summer Olympics. At a launch event for the Enhanced Games, Gkolomeev topped the 50m freestyle world record with a time of 20.89 seconds, passing the 2009 time set by Cesar Cielo.

“This isn’t just about breaking records,” said Gkolomeev. “It’s about breaking limits. The Enhanced Games gave me the resources and the team to unlock a new level of performance — and now the whole world can see what’s possible.”

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