Las Vegas hosts the Enhanced Games, a worldwide competition where doping is encouraged.

In Las Vegas, the Enhanced Games are shaking up the codes of global sports. In this controversial competition, doping is allowed and embraced. Between records, money, and promises of superhuman performances, athletes and organizers openly defy Olympic rules.

In the city of excess, there are no more limits. Explosive cocktails, money, and entertainment are now accompanied by performance-enhancing drugs. Las Vegas hosts the Enhanced Games. Understand: the Augmented Games. The first global competition where doping is not only allowed, but strongly encouraged.

Just hours before the competition, the weightlifters have their final training session. Leydi Solis, a Colombian Olympic medalist in 2008, has been taking anabolic steroids for eight weeks, and she admits: “Since then, I have lost a lot of fat in my arms, but also around my waist. I am more muscular, the same in my legs. My goal is to push my limits to the maximum, become a superwoman.” She claims to have never cheated in an official tournament and just wants to follow different rules. “At least here, everything is transparent and legal,” she adds.

Doping to become stronger, pushing one’s body further and showcasing it to the world. On the famous Las Vegas Strip, a temporary arena has been specially built for the event. Under the spotlight, the 100m track is next to the pool. The arena looks nothing like a typical sports complex. For the pool, for example, there are only four lanes because the goal is not to beat a multitude of competitors but to break records and win the jackpot.

And the deal is very profitable for the athletes. A five-figure salary paid every month, regardless of results, and up to one million dollars for breaking a record. Forty-two athletes have signed up, thus banning themselves from all other international competitions. Among them, a Frenchman: sprinter Mouhamadou Fall, suspended by the anti-doping agency because three times he did not provide his address as required to undergo an unannounced test. He has always maintained his innocence. Today, he claims to want to know how far his body can go. “You recover maybe three or four times more. So, it’s amazing. And on the scientific side, it fascinates and interests me,” he explains.

Doping, but at what cost? The exact protocol has not been disclosed, but products like steroids or EPO are used, with potentially serious side effects according to the WHO: cardiac risks, addiction, infertility. In front of cameras worldwide, the organization’s chief physician claims to monitor the athletes closely with very strict dosages. When our journalist asks, “How can you guarantee, without long-term studies, that there will be no effects on athletes in 5, 10 or 20 years?” Professor Guido Pieles, a cardiologist and head of the medical commission of the Enhanced Games, argues: “Yes, you are right. There needs to be more knowledge about this. But to say that it is very risky and irresponsible is not true. Our study has been approved, and we use internationally recognized scientific methods.”

Behind this project, a publicly transhumanist billionaire who wants to use this competition as a showcase. According to the event’s website, performance-enhancing drugs are already available over the counter. “Is this a business where we use athletes and sports in general as a means to make money? Oh yes! But unfortunately, I am not the first,” emphasizes Christian Angermayer, an investor and co-founder of the Enhanced Games.

The competition is set to begin on May 24 in the arena. The International Olympic Committee has called the event “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”