Are the enhanced games enhancing sport?

Step aside Olympic Games, a much smaller, potentially more dangerous worldwide sporting event is upon us. Enter: the Enhanced Games. 

Join host Morgan Knoxlee as we seek to understand what the Enhanced Games are, and what it could mean for sport. 

The article in this episode was written by Owen Cumming and read by Cat Williams. 

For more stories like this, visit particle.scitech.org.au

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
For over a century, theOlympic Games have been the ultimate
arena for human achievement.
The highest jumpers, thefastest runners, the furthest throwers
all come together to celebratethe skill, power and potential of
the human body.
The Olympics are built on thepromise of fairness and integrity.
The belief that greatness isearned, that greatness is worked

(00:23):
for, that everyone has workedjust as hard as each other to achieve
it.
But what if these rules arethe very thing holding athletes back?
What if the human body couldjump higher, run faster or throw
further?
All with a bit of science.
Welcome back to anotherepisode of Particle Word for Word
where we bring Particle WA'sstories to life.

(00:45):
Today we are reading thearticle Are the Enhanced Games enhancing
Sport?
Written by Owen Cumming andread by Katt Williams.
The Enhanced Games, a bold,controversial and some might say
outrageous new sporting event.
It flips our traditional viewof fairness in sport on its head.
This event is openlyencouraging the use of performance

(01:07):
enhancing substances, seekingto find the true limit of humans.
Yet the values of this newsporting event are the same as the
Olympics.
It's going to be fair becauseeveryone will be taking performance
enhancing drugs.
It's going to be testing theskill, power and potential of the
human body.
If the Olympics was a person,they'd probably be experiencing some

(01:28):
tingling in their left arm,shortness of breath and some chest
pain.
The symptoms of a heartattack, not the effect of performance
enhancing drugs of course.
According to the EnhancedGames brains trust, this event is
showing what the human body iscapable of.
Not by limiting them to, butunleashing them.
Of course, unleashing a groupof elite athletes on a bunch of steroids

(01:51):
and other drugs to boost theirperformance doesn't come without
controversy, critique and risk.
The long term effects of manyof these substances are murky at
best.
The Games force us to ask somebig questions.
What really is fair?
Where should the line be drawnbetween athlete and enhanced athlete?
And ultimately what are wewilling to risk?

(02:11):
Because with a million dollarson the line, my body might be up
for a bit of tinkering.
So are the Enhanced Games thefuture of sport or simply a dystopian
distraction?
Let's take a closer look.
Are the Enhanced Gamesenhancing sport?
The Enhanced Games claim toprovide the ultimate demonstration
of what the human body iscapable of.

(02:32):
But how fair and safe willthese drug fuelled Games be?
The Olympics I hold aloft isthe epitome of human athletics, the
highest level of competition possible.
But a new contest is vying forthe spot at the peak of athletics.
The Enhanced Games are openlyallowing and encouraging the use
of performance enhancing drugsin athletic competition.
Backed by a band ofbillionaires, Australian entrepreneur

(02:54):
Aaron d' Souza is the brainbehind the Games.
D' Souza claims that thecurrent anti doping laws in professional
sport are anti science andrestrict athletes from achieving
their full potential.
The Enhanced Games willsupposedly provide the ultimate demonstration
of what the human body iscapable of.
But how well do the EnhancedGames match up to these lofty claims?
An equal playing field One ofthe most common arguments against

(03:17):
the Enhanced Games is thatthey compromise the fairness of professional
sport.
In an interview with the ABCSport Integrity Australia chief executive
David Sharp said Australianathletes have historically demonstrated
high levels of integrity andthis undermines decades of commitment
from Australian athletes andtheir sports to clean and fair sport.
It's a sentiment shared bymany, but it does raise the question

(03:37):
of how far professional sportsare to begin with.
Drugs aside, there are plentyof other ways to have an unfair advantage
in sport.
There's basically no suchthing as an equal playing field regardless
of an athlete usingenhancement drugs or not, says Dr.
Katinka van de Ven.
Katinka is a visiting fellowwith the Drug Policy Modelling Program
at the University of New SouthWales and a principal consultant

(03:58):
at 360 Edge.
Modern athletics are big business.
With each Olympics raking inbillions of dollars, nations that
can afford the best training,technology and medical care give
their athletes a majoradvantage over the competition.
So is allowing the medicallysupervised use of enhancement drugs
really any different?
Being an athlete from a richcountry is very different from being

(04:19):
an athlete from the developing world.
Using enhancement drugs justadds another layer, says Katinka.
The Enhanced Games areoffering exorbitant prizes for athletes
who break world records.
Olympic medal winningAustralian swimmer James Magnussen
said he'd juice to the gillsto win the $1 million prize for breaking
the 50 meter freestyle world record.
With money like that on theline, some athletes are sure to receive

(04:39):
more support than others.
Some athletes in the EnhancedGames will not have access to the
highest quality substanceswhile being monitored by the best
medical team.
Some athletes in the EnhancedGames will have access to the highest
quality substances while beingmonitored by the best medical team,
whereas others will not, says Katinka.
Is that fair?
No.
But within the confines of acompetition like the Enhanced Games,

(05:01):
is the open use of enhancementdrugs really any less fair than the
many other advantages athletesmight receive?
Risks to health of course,there's more to be concerned about
than just fairness.
The Enhanced Games organisersclaim the event will be held to the
highest medical safetystandards, but there's a possibility
that some athletes might beled to taking excessive risks that
threaten their physical andmental health.

(05:23):
The risk with the EnhancedGames as no limitations is that there
is the risk athletes would usevery high quantities and a lot of
different substances even whenthere is not a lot of evidence of
their effectiveness.
Basically a just in caseapproach and the more people use,
the higher the risks of healthharms occurring, says Katinka.
There's also a concern abouthow the Enhanced Games might influence
drug use culture more broadly,particularly among younger people.

(05:45):
We risk signalling that usingenhancement drugs is a normal part
of sport and a normal part ofpreparing for a sport competition.
We know that younger peoplestart using substances, the higher
the risk is of developingproblems with their use.
Medical support however, theopen medically supervised use of
enhancement drugs could makethings safer for athletes.
In 2014, a review estimatedthat 14 to 39% of adult elite athletes

(06:07):
use doping.
In some natural competitionslike bodybuilding, the use of enhancement
drugs is all but assumed, withseparate natural bodybuilding competitions
needed for those who don't.
For those athletes alreadyusing performance drugs, their need
to hide their use can havedangerous consequences.
Currently, enhancement drugsuse is largely hidden in elite sport
and anti doping policies havethe unintended consequence that they
can increase risky behaviours,says Katinka.

(06:30):
Athletes will use enhancementdrugs that cannot be detected but
potentially are more dangerousor it may lead to athletes not accessing
health services when theyexperience problems with their use.
In some cases, athletes mighteven forgo the use of medically prescribed
drugs.
Applying for a therapeutic useexemption is a complicated and costly
administrative process.
In some cases it may lead toathletes being denied best practice

(06:51):
medical care, says Katinka.
By providing a legitimatestage for drug enhanced competition,
the Enhanced Games could helpprevent these dangers and even reduce
the use of drugs in natural athletics.
Allowing medically supervisedenhancement drugs can potentially
have a number of positiveconsequences, says Katinka.
Will it work?
Frankly, what the success andimpact of the Enhanced Games will

(07:12):
be is anyone's guess.
Maybe they will prove to be asafe, controlled way for athletes
to use enhancement drugs.
Or maybe they'll inspirereckless and dangerous use among
athletes and amateurs alike.
Perhaps they will provide atranscendent example of human achievement.
Or they'll be seen as atasteless spectacle that no serious
athlete would compete in.
There's only one way to find out.
We'll have no idea whether theGames are a pumped up success or

(07:35):
a flat out flop until theirfirst run in Las Vegas in May of
2026. Who knows?
It could be a roaring success,with medical practitioners keeping
a close eye on some of theworld's best athletes.
Equally, it could have somepretty dramatic side effects.
I guess there's only one wayto find out.
For more stories like this,visit particle.scitech.org au.