August 27, 2025 • 11 mins
The inaugural 'Enhanced Games' promises to show doped-up athletes battling it out for cash and prizes.
The concept has sparked concern among researchers and sports officials alike, and many of them have pointed out the possible risks.
Kiwi Olympic legend Eric Murray joined the Afternoons team to weigh in.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We have been talking about the Enhanced Games, an event
where athletes will not be drug tested. So a great
man to chat to on this is Eric Murray, one
of our sporting greats, a double Olympic gold medal champion
and an astonishing eight gold medals at the World Champs.
He certainly knows a hell of a lot about elite
sport and he joins us, Now get a Eric m
how are we very good?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Now you've got to the very top of a clean sport.
What's your gut reaction to the idea of a drugged
up enhanced Games with everyone on the pads.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Well, it depends if you're taking the piss right and
going we're going to absolutely juice to the eyeballs and
like probably go on the dangerous side of the of
the enhancement, or are you going to push it to
a level which I guess just crosses the line from
what is currently now if that.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
Makes any sense.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yes, So they claim that there'll be medical oversights and
that you know, as risky as the drug taking that
takes happens illegally in sports at the moment. So you know,
but I mean, are there are any pens safe? I mean,
you know, I mean I don't think it does It
doesn't turn out that great for your heart generally, does it?
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Well?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
No, But you know, I guess under controlled supervision. The
reason that there's the reason that there's things in place
to stop I guess enhancement is because how far can
you push it? And that's and that's that's the line,
because you know, you're not allowed its currently with wider
and stuff. You're not allowed to be on drips or
your IV lines after you've trained or anything like that.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Now, how much how much effect would that have? You know,
taking taking your red.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Blood cells and you know the blood doping and putting
that back and obviously had a great effect for old
Lance Armstrong. So if you did, if you did that
under supervision, how much more does that add?
Speaker 5 (02:01):
You know?
Speaker 4 (02:01):
But when you're getting into I'm going to be on
growth hormones and I'm going to put the steroids up
to the eyeballs and that sort of thing, there's obviously
going to be effect to your body.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
And that's the issue.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yeah, Now, rowing isn't one of the sports that that's
in the twenty twenty six Enhance Games. But do you
think enhanced rowings rowing would break records or is it
more than that? Isn't it timing and race management and
being sync and sync with your partner and all that
kind of stuff more important in a way?
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Oh? Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
And the thing is that there's quite a few sports
where if you just take all of that into the account,
you know, and you're going say weightlifting or sprinting that
type of thing, you've got a very limited aspect of
the technical side, which means that yeah, you can pump
it up and get really strong and you know, or
you could throw shot puts or jablin's quite far that
type of thing, but there's still an element of technical
(02:52):
involvement whereas you know, you get to things like rowing
or kayaking that type of thing, there's a huge amount
of technical component that comes with what you're doing. And
so yes, there will be a benefit for you being
super fatal, super strong, but if you if you can't
row for shit, you know.
Speaker 6 (03:07):
It doesn't So it might be more about someone who
is saying behind behind you and was never going to
beat you and looks at it and goes, well, I'm
not a chance here, but I've got some skills, so
then I'll go to the enhanced games.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
If you see what I'm saying, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Absolutely, And I think that is you know, I still
think that we're not you know, we're I do want
to cross a line here, but I still think that
we're not quite getting to what I believe we could
with human performance currently. But of course where do you
like the problem is you've got to draw a line.
You know, It's like, we can't we can't take steroids
(03:48):
to and taking steroids isn't horrifically bad if you're taking
them at a at a dosage, or at a level
or the type of stereoid you're having for recovery, because
I guess what the common myth is that everybody thinks
you just take steroids and you get really big and massive.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
But all the steroids is there to help you recover.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Right, So you're taking it, you're recovering quicker. You get
on an ive, you're recovering quicker. You take a quarter
zone injection because you've done an injury. It helps the
recovery quicker. Right, So there's all of these things where yeah,
you can, you can help recover the body quicker, which
currently not allowed. But then as I've said, you know,
there's there's stepping the line even further and saying right,
(04:27):
we're on growth or moone, we're on antibody anabolic steroids.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
You're going to make you really big and strong and
that type of thing.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
So really just you know, it's it's weird as I'm drawing,
and even with most most athletes now, you know, like
you're pushing it to as much as you can with
the current regulations and guidelines. So it's like, you know,
you can still take caffeine currently. You know, if you
need if you need ventilin for your supposed sports induced asthma,
you're allowed it. You know, like if you need a
cord zone for an injury, you can get it under
(04:55):
restricted circumstances.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
So there's things that are currently there.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
But if you just opened up that ballpark, it's like, okay,
where would we start jumping to already?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, it's interesting I've made as far from an athlete
and he's on the royds for his exma, but that's
a totally differentntion.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It certainly is so Eric, the guy that's funding this
Aaron Desuza. He says, and I think he's genuine about this,
that he thinks that part of this will be scientific
discovery about finding that extra ed and there might be
some good that comes out of it. Do you buy
that or do you think this is just an exhibition
freak show if you will.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
No, I think there is because at the moment, you know,
every single sporting person in the world is using a
sports physiologist, right and so they're working with your human
physiology to train you in the in the right way,
in the way that you can using. And like not
to get like super complicated here, but there's things called
(05:49):
training stress scores, you know, and.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
So heart rate variability, so how you wake up to
how you can train today? You know, how much training
stress have you put on.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Your body this week? So they're already tracking that. But
it's like, what if we just gave it another fifteen percent?
You know, But how do you get that fifteen percent?
Because the only way for you to get that extra
percentage is by using outside influence, so to speak. So
if we were just looking at in that respect, absolutely
you could see some you could see some performances that
(06:19):
would really be pushing up there with the likes of
what was happening back in the eighties with all the
world records that got scrapped in most sports, but under
a controlled under a controlled environment, And so yes, I
do see a benefit in terms of that science. But
the problem is it's like they're just saying it's in
enhanced games and like, fuck, just go for gold.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
But of course, mate, you.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Go too hard, We're going to have you know, there's
a lot of problems that can happen. But if you
can do it under the controlled environment above the restrictions
that are currently in place, for sure, you're going to
see some performances. But and here's the butt, it's like,
how many of the current athletes are going to want
to do that versus what they're currently doing, because you're
(07:01):
only really going to get the athletes that are AI
either not quite good enough currently to be there, all
the ones that are sort of retired and gone. You
know what, I'll just whip out a retirement for a
couple of years and just see what I can do.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Another argument is that the organizers have is that they
will test it to the limit here, much like Formula one,
where you test the you know, the the tech to
the limit, and then maybe these performance and drugs could
be used for people that aren't trying to you know,
win win medals, but are actually just getting through life
(07:34):
and maybe across life everyone could be performing better if
there's if there's a performance anything drugs that have been
proven to be safe in the in the hardest stress
point of competition.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Yeah, but like a lot of those are already there
that most like that. I think this is part of
the misconception is that there's there's so many I guess
drugs that are administered to people in everyday life because
they've got something, you know, like the uh, you know,
you've got a chest infection, so you can get different
drugs for that. You know, you've got to infection, so
(08:09):
you can get different stuff. And a lot of the
masking agents that are banned in sport are things where
you do have an infection. You know, you get a
little bit of sepsus or something from an infected blister
or you know whatever. We're not allowed those as athletes
because it keeps the like the steroid or the antibiotics
in your system and holding them there. So you know,
(08:30):
there's all of those types of things which are currently
allowed in the general public's everyday life if they've got
an ailment, but aren't allowed in sport. Right, So this
is where it's like, where are we just going to
go across the line or are we literally just throwing
the line out the window and being like, go for
gold boys, you know, boys and girls, let's light it up.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, we are talking to double Olympic gold medal champion
Eric Murray, Eric honesty call. Ifdsuza says we want to
bring rolling into the enhanced Games, put the call out.
Would you ever look at that and consider, hey, it's
half a million bucks and won't give it a crack
mad on.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Forty three pounds?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
That's probably something you ask like Emma Twig or someone
who's you know, right around probably the right age or
the perfect age currently in a peak, but na not
for me, like I've crossed that level.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
But that's the other thing as well.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You know there's in a lot of sports, and I'll
give you the stat that the average age of an
Olympic gold medalists like thirty, right, so you've almost got
to be around thirty years old, somewhere mid twenties to
mid thirties, and then decide to jump on this bandwagon,
and of course absolutely, if there's the problem, I shouldn't
say the problem. The thing is with most sports is
(09:45):
that the reason that people you know, step aside or
try and push the boundaries or cheat so to speak,
is because money is involved.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
You know, it's like that's the reason.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
That's the reason that people are doing it is because
they're like, look, if I win this, I get bonus endorsements,
I get I could get a sponsorship from this and
that type of thing, and so most of it is
driven by money and the reward that you get from things.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Do you think that the Enhanced Games would What do
you think the Enhanced Games would mean for the Olympics?
Because do you reckon they could both exist without affecting
each other?
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Well, I do, because what you know, you've got to
think what they've been trying to do with the Olympics
is make it a standard, right, so it's a standardized thing.
That's why you've got wider that's why you've got drug
free sport. You know, organizations in every country is to
create a standard so that the next person knows what
the standard is and competes to that standard. Can they
push that standard even further because otherwise, as you say,
(10:40):
this is what's going to happen, is that the standard
gets skewed because you've got enhancement. Whether that's whether that's
a lot of enhancement or just the minor enhancement. That's
the difference. And so generally the reason that all of
this exists is so that you can have a standard
and a benchmark that people aspire to that they'll be like, oh, wow,
(11:00):
they broke the Olympic record by point one of a second.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
You know, if you're not breaking it by three or.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Four which could which will probably happen in this sort
of respect.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Absolutely, it's a fascinating idea and it's going to happen
next May. But Eric, thank you very much for coming
on and having a chat, No worries.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Thanks to go.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We'll catch up again soon. That is double Olympic gold
medal champion Eric Murray.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
For more from News Talk sed B, listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
this and our Wide Ranger podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
We have been talking about the Enhanced Games, an event
where athletes will not be drug tested. So a great
man to chat to on this is Eric Murray, one
of our sporting greats, a double Olympic gold medal champion
and an astonishing eight gold medals at the World Champs.
He certainly knows a hell of a lot about elite
sport and he joins us, Now get a Eric m
how are we very good?
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Now you've got to the very top of a clean sport.
What's your gut reaction to the idea of a drugged
up enhanced Games with everyone on the pads.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Well, it depends if you're taking the piss right and
going we're going to absolutely juice to the eyeballs and
like probably go on the dangerous side of the of
the enhancement, or are you going to push it to
a level which I guess just crosses the line from
what is currently now if that.
Speaker 5 (01:02):
Makes any sense.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Yes, So they claim that there'll be medical oversights and
that you know, as risky as the drug taking that
takes happens illegally in sports at the moment. So you know,
but I mean, are there are any pens safe? I mean,
you know, I mean I don't think it does It
doesn't turn out that great for your heart generally, does it?
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Well?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
No, But you know, I guess under controlled supervision. The
reason that there's the reason that there's things in place
to stop I guess enhancement is because how far can
you push it? And that's and that's that's the line,
because you know, you're not allowed its currently with wider
and stuff. You're not allowed to be on drips or
your IV lines after you've trained or anything like that.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Now, how much how much effect would that have? You know,
taking taking your red.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Blood cells and you know the blood doping and putting
that back and obviously had a great effect for old
Lance Armstrong. So if you did, if you did that
under supervision, how much more does that add?
Speaker 5 (02:01):
You know?
Speaker 4 (02:01):
But when you're getting into I'm going to be on
growth hormones and I'm going to put the steroids up
to the eyeballs and that sort of thing, there's obviously
going to be effect to your body.
Speaker 5 (02:11):
And that's the issue.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Yeah, Now, rowing isn't one of the sports that that's
in the twenty twenty six Enhance Games. But do you
think enhanced rowings rowing would break records or is it
more than that? Isn't it timing and race management and
being sync and sync with your partner and all that
kind of stuff more important in a way?
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Oh? Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
And the thing is that there's quite a few sports
where if you just take all of that into the account,
you know, and you're going say weightlifting or sprinting that
type of thing, you've got a very limited aspect of
the technical side, which means that yeah, you can pump
it up and get really strong and you know, or
you could throw shot puts or jablin's quite far that
type of thing, but there's still an element of technical
(02:52):
involvement whereas you know, you get to things like rowing
or kayaking that type of thing, there's a huge amount
of technical component that comes with what you're doing. And
so yes, there will be a benefit for you being
super fatal, super strong, but if you if you can't
row for shit, you know.
Speaker 6 (03:07):
It doesn't So it might be more about someone who
is saying behind behind you and was never going to
beat you and looks at it and goes, well, I'm
not a chance here, but I've got some skills, so
then I'll go to the enhanced games.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
If you see what I'm saying, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Absolutely, And I think that is you know, I still
think that we're not you know, we're I do want
to cross a line here, but I still think that
we're not quite getting to what I believe we could
with human performance currently. But of course where do you
like the problem is you've got to draw a line.
You know, It's like, we can't we can't take steroids
(03:48):
to and taking steroids isn't horrifically bad if you're taking
them at a at a dosage, or at a level
or the type of stereoid you're having for recovery, because
I guess what the common myth is that everybody thinks
you just take steroids and you get really big and massive.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
But all the steroids is there to help you recover.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Right, So you're taking it, you're recovering quicker. You get
on an ive, you're recovering quicker. You take a quarter
zone injection because you've done an injury. It helps the
recovery quicker. Right, So there's all of these things where yeah,
you can, you can help recover the body quicker, which
currently not allowed. But then as I've said, you know,
there's there's stepping the line even further and saying right,
(04:27):
we're on growth or moone, we're on antibody anabolic steroids.
Speaker 5 (04:30):
You're going to make you really big and strong and
that type of thing.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
So really just you know, it's it's weird as I'm drawing,
and even with most most athletes now, you know, like
you're pushing it to as much as you can with
the current regulations and guidelines. So it's like, you know,
you can still take caffeine currently. You know, if you
need if you need ventilin for your supposed sports induced asthma,
you're allowed it. You know, like if you need a
cord zone for an injury, you can get it under
(04:55):
restricted circumstances.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
So there's things that are currently there.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
But if you just opened up that ballpark, it's like, okay,
where would we start jumping to already?
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah, it's interesting I've made as far from an athlete
and he's on the royds for his exma, but that's
a totally differentntion.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It certainly is so Eric, the guy that's funding this
Aaron Desuza. He says, and I think he's genuine about this,
that he thinks that part of this will be scientific
discovery about finding that extra ed and there might be
some good that comes out of it. Do you buy
that or do you think this is just an exhibition
freak show if you will.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
No, I think there is because at the moment, you know,
every single sporting person in the world is using a
sports physiologist, right and so they're working with your human
physiology to train you in the in the right way,
in the way that you can using. And like not
to get like super complicated here, but there's things called
(05:49):
training stress scores, you know, and.
Speaker 5 (05:51):
So heart rate variability, so how you wake up to
how you can train today? You know, how much training
stress have you put on.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Your body this week? So they're already tracking that. But
it's like, what if we just gave it another fifteen percent?
You know, But how do you get that fifteen percent?
Because the only way for you to get that extra
percentage is by using outside influence, so to speak. So
if we were just looking at in that respect, absolutely
you could see some you could see some performances that
(06:19):
would really be pushing up there with the likes of
what was happening back in the eighties with all the
world records that got scrapped in most sports, but under
a controlled under a controlled environment, And so yes, I
do see a benefit in terms of that science. But
the problem is it's like they're just saying it's in
enhanced games and like, fuck, just go for gold.
Speaker 5 (06:37):
But of course, mate, you.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
Go too hard, We're going to have you know, there's
a lot of problems that can happen. But if you
can do it under the controlled environment above the restrictions
that are currently in place, for sure, you're going to
see some performances. But and here's the butt, it's like,
how many of the current athletes are going to want
to do that versus what they're currently doing, because you're
(07:01):
only really going to get the athletes that are AI
either not quite good enough currently to be there, all
the ones that are sort of retired and gone. You
know what, I'll just whip out a retirement for a
couple of years and just see what I can do.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Another argument is that the organizers have is that they
will test it to the limit here, much like Formula one,
where you test the you know, the the tech to
the limit, and then maybe these performance and drugs could
be used for people that aren't trying to you know,
win win medals, but are actually just getting through life
(07:34):
and maybe across life everyone could be performing better if
there's if there's a performance anything drugs that have been
proven to be safe in the in the hardest stress
point of competition.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Yeah, but like a lot of those are already there
that most like that. I think this is part of
the misconception is that there's there's so many I guess
drugs that are administered to people in everyday life because
they've got something, you know, like the uh, you know,
you've got a chest infection, so you can get different
drugs for that. You know, you've got to infection, so
(08:09):
you can get different stuff. And a lot of the
masking agents that are banned in sport are things where
you do have an infection. You know, you get a
little bit of sepsus or something from an infected blister
or you know whatever. We're not allowed those as athletes
because it keeps the like the steroid or the antibiotics
in your system and holding them there. So you know,
(08:30):
there's all of those types of things which are currently
allowed in the general public's everyday life if they've got
an ailment, but aren't allowed in sport. Right, So this
is where it's like, where are we just going to
go across the line or are we literally just throwing
the line out the window and being like, go for
gold boys, you know, boys and girls, let's light it up.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Yeah, we are talking to double Olympic gold medal champion
Eric Murray, Eric honesty call. Ifdsuza says we want to
bring rolling into the enhanced Games, put the call out.
Would you ever look at that and consider, hey, it's
half a million bucks and won't give it a crack
mad on.
Speaker 5 (09:06):
Forty three pounds?
Speaker 4 (09:09):
That's probably something you ask like Emma Twig or someone
who's you know, right around probably the right age or
the perfect age currently in a peak, but na not
for me, like I've crossed that level.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
But that's the other thing as well.
Speaker 4 (09:24):
You know there's in a lot of sports, and I'll
give you the stat that the average age of an
Olympic gold medalists like thirty, right, so you've almost got
to be around thirty years old, somewhere mid twenties to
mid thirties, and then decide to jump on this bandwagon,
and of course absolutely, if there's the problem, I shouldn't
say the problem. The thing is with most sports is
(09:45):
that the reason that people you know, step aside or
try and push the boundaries or cheat so to speak,
is because money is involved.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
You know, it's like that's the reason.
Speaker 4 (09:55):
That's the reason that people are doing it is because
they're like, look, if I win this, I get bonus endorsements,
I get I could get a sponsorship from this and
that type of thing, and so most of it is
driven by money and the reward that you get from things.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Do you think that the Enhanced Games would What do
you think the Enhanced Games would mean for the Olympics?
Because do you reckon they could both exist without affecting
each other?
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Well, I do, because what you know, you've got to
think what they've been trying to do with the Olympics
is make it a standard, right, so it's a standardized thing.
That's why you've got wider that's why you've got drug
free sport. You know, organizations in every country is to
create a standard so that the next person knows what
the standard is and competes to that standard. Can they
push that standard even further because otherwise, as you say,
(10:40):
this is what's going to happen, is that the standard
gets skewed because you've got enhancement. Whether that's whether that's
a lot of enhancement or just the minor enhancement. That's
the difference. And so generally the reason that all of
this exists is so that you can have a standard
and a benchmark that people aspire to that they'll be like, oh, wow,
(11:00):
they broke the Olympic record by point one of a second.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
You know, if you're not breaking it by three or.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Four which could which will probably happen in this sort
of respect.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Absolutely, it's a fascinating idea and it's going to happen
next May. But Eric, thank you very much for coming
on and having a chat, No worries.
Speaker 5 (11:16):
Thanks to go.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We'll catch up again soon. That is double Olympic gold
medal champion Eric Murray.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
For more from News Talk sed B, listen live on
air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever
you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
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