★ The Sports Examiner: Chronicling the key competitive, economic and political forces shaping elite sport and the Olympic Movement.★
★ To get the daily Sports Examiner Recap by e-mail: sign up here! ★
≡ WADA WARNING ≡
After Wednesday’s showy introduction of the doping-allowed Enhanced Games, to be held in May 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada, the World Anti-Doping Agency wasted little time condemning the event, in harsh terms:
“WADA condemns the Enhanced Games as a dangerous and irresponsible concept . The health and well-being of athletes is WADA’s number-one priority. Clearly this event would jeopardize that as it seeks to promote the use of powerful substances and methods by athletes for the purposes of entertainment and marketing. Over the years, there have been many examples of athletes suffering serious long-term side-effects from their use of prohibited substances and methods. Some have died.
“This is one area that should unite all Anti-Doping Organizations and governments around the world, not least in the U.S. where the event is now scheduled to take place. We invite all our clean sport partners, including athletes, to join us in condemning this event regardless of its wealthy and influential supporters.
“It has become clear from the event’s launch in Las Vegas that a focus of the organizers is to sell their products and to play down the associated risks. Inducing elite athletes to use their profiles to promote the use of prohibited and potentially dangerous substances is harmful, in particular for young athletes.”
The Enhanced Games presentation emphasized its research and scientific work to help create “super humans,” but the WADA statement noted that athletes who participate at the Enhanced Games might not be able to compete anywhere else:
“WADA warns athletes and support personnel who wish to participate in sport regulated by the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), that if they were to take part in the Enhanced Games, they would risk committing anti-doping rule violations under the Code. They would also put their reputations on the line, as they would risk forever being associated with doping.
“To be clear, WADA will encourage Anti-Doping Organizations to test involved athletes before, during and after this event, in order to protect the integrity of legitimate sport. WADA will also work closely with its Athlete Council to ensure that athletes are fully informed of the risks.
“WADA also calls on all governments and law enforcement agencies to assess whether athletes who admit to taking performance-enhancing drugs – or the physicians who supply or administer those substances – may be in breach of criminal laws or professional rules, whether in their own countries or wherever the event takes place.”
Here, WADA and its relentless critic, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, are unquestionably on the same side and USADA’s efforts at, in or around the Enhanced Games – if it comes off – will be closely watched by WADA and other national anti-doping organizations.
For its part, USADA posted a full page of warnings about the Enhanced Games on its Web site almost a week before Wednesday’s announcement. Said USADA chief Travis Tygart:
“While those behind the Enhanced Games might be looking to make a quick buck, that profit would come at the expense of kids across the world thinking they need to dope to chase their dreams.
“We desperately wish this investment was being made in the athletes who are currently training and competing the real and safe way. They are the role models this world so desperately needs and they are the ones who deserve our support – not some dangerous clown show that puts profit over principle.”
The WADA Athlete Council also came out with a statement against the Enhanced Games, including:
“Now, we would like to put on the record that the AC is firmly opposed to the Enhanced Games and any event that promotes the use of performance-enhancing substances and methods. These Games represent a dangerous concept that ignores decades of medical evidence and the lived experiences of athletes harmed by doping.
“Such an event puts athlete safety at serious risk and fundamentally undermines the core values of sport. To encourage such an event is both irresponsible and unacceptable.
“Consequently, the AC will be working with WADA to ensure athletes are informed of the risks associated with this event – risks not only affecting athletes’ health and well-being but also athletes’ careers in sports.”
The Enhanced Games will be continuously campaigned against by the anti-doping community and may be a unique avenue for more cooperation between WADA and the unhappy national anti-doping agencies still smarting from WADA’s actions related to the 2021 Chinese swimming mass-positives incident.
¶
★ Receive our exclusive, weekday TSX Recap by e-mail by clicking here.
★ Sign up a friend to receive the TSX Recap by clicking here.
★ Please consider a donation here to keep this site going.
For our updated, 694-event International Sports Calendar for 2025 and beyond, by date and by sport, click here!
