The businesses -- and investors -- behind the controversial Enhanced Games

追加: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Let me ask you something. Who profits from the controversial enhanced games?

[00:00:04]Well, you have to follow the money for that answer because this isn't just about sport, it's about business. This is Game Theory where sport is more than just a game. Now, just to give you a little refresher, the enhanced games [music] is a new competition taking place in Las Vegas. The inaugural event kicks off on May the 24th and it's focused on swimming, athletics, and weightlifting.

[00:00:24]Athletes are allowed to openly and legally use performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision. Now, the organizers [music] say it's about transparency, science, and pushing human performance forward. But, critics like the World Anti-Doping Agency call it a dangerous and irresponsible project.

[00:00:42]But, beyond the health and well-being of athletes, there's another question. Who actually profits from enhanced human performance? For the athletes, [music] each event carries a $500,000 purse with $250,000 awarded to the first-place finisher, not to mention appearance fees. And the bonus for breaking world records in the 100-meter sprint and 50-meter freestyle, we're talking seven figures [music] here. And that's hard to ignore when you consider that many Olympians train for years with very little financial security. Olympic swimmer Ben Proud said it would take 13 years of winning a world championship title for athletes to earn the same amount of prize money on offer for a single enhanced race. And then, there's the former Greek Olympian swimmer Kristin Gkolomeev. At an event in 2025 designed to promote the enhanced games, organizers said he swam the 50-meter [music] freestyle in 20.89 seconds during a time trial breaking the world record and earning that $1 million bonus. Compare that to his entire 14-year professional career which included four Olympics and countless international competitions where he reportedly earned around $200,000.

[00:01:55]So, no official world record, but he walked off with the biggest paycheck of his career. And it's not just the athletes who stand to gain. The company organizing the Enhanced Games is reportedly valued at $1.2 billion, and that's before a single official race >> [music] >> has even taken place. And you have investors like tech billionaire Peter Thiel, biotech billionaire Christian Angermayer, and Donald Trump Jr. backing the event. The company's wider business model includes telehealth, supplements, testosterone therapy, and direct-to-consumer performance products, which clearly suggests the event itself [music] is only part of the business.

[00:02:33]So, it would seem that the Enhanced Games isn't just about sport, because you could add profit and biohacking to its roster. But it also raises a bigger question. If drug-enhanced performance becomes profitable, who decides where [music] to set the limits?