Would you rather be you… or the “enhanced” you? That’s the question at the center of a new worldwide debate following the conclusion of the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas—a competition many are calling the “Olympics on steroids,” quite literally.
The Enhanced Games put a controversial twist on traditional sports: dozens of athletes competed in events like swimming and weightlifting, but, unlike the Olympics, these competitors were permitted to use any FDA-approved performance-enhancing drugs.
Quentin Shores reports - watch the video here:
“Most performance enhancing drugs are geared towards increasing either muscle mass or increasing your ability to carry oxygen,” explained Dr. Flint Ray, a sports medicine physician.
Common substances used include steroids, EPO, and peptides, all able to boost muscle, endurance, speed, or healing. Yet, according to experts, the actual improvements are often modest for most people.
“It just pushes your body further to try and get more out of every cell and every muscle,” Dr. Ray said.
The event even pitted enhanced athletes against non-enhanced ones, with mixed results. Some “natural” athletes still managed to triumph. But while winners and records made headlines, the real controversy lies with the health risks.
“Everything from even losing testicular size to having breast enlargement in males. And it can lead to a lot of psychiatric things too,” Dr. Ray explained.
Steroid use in particular is associated with dangerous side effects—heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, shrinking testicles, and gynecomastia among them. Prolonged use is also linked to a higher risk of cancer and other serious conditions.
“You have to be really cautious and aware of safety issues. You know, peptides are a huge thing right now. And the GLP-1 medications that help you lose weight; they are a peptide,” Dr. Ray said.
While some pharmaceutical companies see performance enhancers as the next big industry—drawing comparisons to the rise in popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic—sports medicine doctors argue that caution is needed. The long-term effects of many of these drugs remain unknown and require far more research before widespread use in athletics can be considered safe.
As the conversation around the Enhanced Games continues, so too does the debate over the direction—and limits—of human performance.
