Enhanced Games sell “science,” critics see profit first

At the inaugural Enhanced Games in Las Vegas, athletes competed with performance-enhancing drugs under medical supervision—and one world record still sparked an argument about legitimacy. The venture behind the event says it’s building safer, evidence-based “e

The blistering sun hit the makeshift Olympic-length pool in Las Vegas as Cody Miller stepped onto the starting block in lane one. MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” thumped over the loudspeakers. Miller threw his swimming cap to the ground. raised his arms in victory. and screamed as if he’d already decided how the night would end.

When he finished the men’s 50m breaststroke, his wallet was heavier by $250,000—26.55 seconds ago, to be exact. It was also, he said, a new personal best for the two-time Olympic medalist.

The Enhanced Games—built around the idea that enhancement isn’t a taboo but a product—made the question hanging in the air impossible to ignore: was Miller’s performance helped by a polyurethane swimsuit that had been banned after the 2008 Olympics for “technological doping. ” or by his personalized protocol of performance-enhancing drugs. described by Enhanced’s critics as verboten everywhere else?. Miller didn’t sound like someone looking to justify anything. He’d been talking about it for months and received support from his doctors, coaches, and family.

“I just shaved seven-tenths off my best at 34,” Miller said when asked how “enhancing” affected his performance.

In a vlog explaining his retirement, Miller had said his last lap at his final clean meet was the moment “my body shut down, stopped working.” That video ended with him plugging his availability for Cameo, local swim meets, speaking engagements, and his YouTube channel.

At the Enhanced Games. the pitch was different: you don’t just win—you do it with enhancement. in front of a crowd that’s being asked to accept a new definition of “optimization.” With the day’s structure and payouts. Miller’s pathway was clear. If he kept performing, he’d win another $250,000. When he did. Enhanced promised. he’d be able to “leap out of the pool like it was nothing” and spend the rest of the Games pumping his arms and cheering on fellow athletes—enhanced. too. At no point, the spectacle suggested, was he meant to look tired.

This is the tension Enhanced has managed to sell from the beginning: medicine as showmanship, and showmanship as medicine.

The Enhanced Games were first announced in 2023 by tech entrepreneur Aaron D’Souza. The venture was co-founded alongside biotech entrepreneur Christian Angermayer. Among its backers, the event counts Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. The elevator pitch is blunt: a live sporting event where performance-enhancing drugs aren’t merely allowed. but encouraged—administered under close medical supervision and approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

For the inaugural Enhanced Games, 42 athletes in swimming, weightlifting, and track and field were incentivized to break world records. The prize money topped out at $1 million. For several weeks leading up to the Games. athletes were sequestered at a facility in Abu Dhabi and put through medical tests including metabolic panels. MRIs. and CT scans. Those who wanted enhancements had to be medically cleared. then worked with doctors to build personalized protocols tailored to their sport and goals.

Enhanced’s CEO, Maximilian Martin, is 29. He frames the company’s approach as a kind of evolution. “Traditional medicine is all about [fixing] what’s wrong with you. It’s about getting you back to your baseline,” Martin said. With enhancers, he argued, “you can get into that space beyond. I think it’s really scientific evolution.”.

But the word “enhancing” sits uncomfortably close to a far more familiar label: biohacking. Enhanced says its model is science-backed self-optimization using testing. wearable devices. and—at the extreme—substances sourced outside normal medical channels. And it isn’t elite sport only. Silicon Valley-style self-experimentation with peptides. wellness influencers marketing supplements on TikTok. and the longevity influencer Bryan Johnson—who also served as an on-site Enhanced Games commentator—are all part of the same cultural ecosystem.

Researchers, clean athletes, and sporting organizations largely reject Enhanced’s framing. The World Anti-Doping Agency. the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). the International Olympic Committee. and several other professional athletic associations have criticized Enhanced as setting a dangerous precedent. Travis Tygart. CEO of USADA. called the Enhanced Games a “dangerous clown show that puts profit over principle.” Critics have also asked whether performance-enhancing drugs can ever be used safely in this format. raising long-term health concerns.

Enhanced is not only staging a competition. It also runs a direct-to-consumer telehealth service offering monthly subscriptions for supplements, (legal) peptides, and hormone replacement therapies. Enhanced’s own marketing leans hard on the idea that the public can see what athletes do—transparent. medically supervised enhancement. That pitch has drawn accusations of “science-washing,” aimed at driving sales toward its telehealth offerings.

Some critics point out that consumers weren’t necessarily offered the same enhancements athletes were getting. For example, prescription GLP-1 agonists and GHK-Cu copper peptides were not available for the athletes.

Even with those disputes in place, the Games themselves turned out to be a media machine. But they also came with their own technical and staging failures for something that reportedly cost about $50 million.

A pregame conference was disrupted by screeching speakers that left Martin visibly flustered and the press murmuring. Soon after the Games started, the live feed froze for several minutes. The jumbotron glitched at intervals throughout the night.

Venue details underscored how uneven the spectacle could feel. During a press tour, the land the stadium sits on was described as a barren lot only one month prior. There are roughly 2. 500 seats. though the oppressive 94-degree-Fahrenheit heat left many of the grandstands empty for the first half of the Games. Tickets weren’t sold. The event was invite-only: some attendees were family and friends of athletes. Enhanced said another 250 were credentialed media across 75 publications worldwide. The rest, as the night unfolded, were influencers. Media were told not to interview attendees; those who were caught were chastised and threatened with ejection.

If the stagecraft was chaotic, the performances were sharper than the narrative critics expected—and rougher than Enhanced supporters would have wanted.

Barbadian runner Tristan Evelyn won the women’s 100-meter sprint at 11.18 seconds. Evelyn was one of four athletes who competed “unenhanced.”

On the livestream, Bryan Johnson appeared clad in sunglasses and a special UV umbrella to protect him from direct sunlight. The opening ceremony featured an electronica version of “O Fortuna” as dancers in black leotards moved through the heat. Athletes were introduced like WWE wrestlers entering a ring. The crowd was encouraged repeatedly to get loud. and “Dragostea din tei”—also known as the Numa Numa song—blared before fading into an obscure Eminem remix.

Between events. the jumbotron ran slick reels: Olympic-style hype. world record targets. and talking points about performance-enhancing drugs. medical supervision. and “adequately compensating athletes.” A QR code flashed for spectators to send selfies. which were then turned into AI-generated portraits of what they’d look like “enhanced.” Other times. the traditional kiss cam was replaced with a “flex cam.”.

By the time weightlifting rolled around earlier in the day during peak temperatures, some athletes couldn’t finish. James Magnussen—known for an approach that got him labeled a mascot for controversy—finished last in all his events despite wearing a gold custom-made suit.

Personal bests were recorded, but nearly every attempt by enhanced athletes to break a world record failed. The men’s 100m sprint had three false starts. While most of the 42 athletes used performance-enhancing drugs. four stayed clean: Hunter Armstrong. Tristan Evelyn. and Fred Kerley were among them. They won their races with ease. and Kerley mocked the competition after victory. teasing that perhaps they should’ve doped a bit more.

Still, there was one breakthrough. Kristian Gkolomeev was the only “enhanced” athlete to break a world record that night. Not a single world record fell until the last event of the evening: the men’s 50m freestyle.

Martin ran along the length of the pool, cheering and clapping. Other enhanced athletes did the same. At the last possible second, Gkolomeev touched the wall, and the arena erupted into flashing red light. “WORLD RECORD” appeared on the jumbotron. Gkolomeev was credited with breaking Cam McEvoy’s record by 0.07 second.

Everyone screamed—probably because something finally happened.

But after the Games, the argument didn’t die with the fireworks.

Enhanced’s definition of “optimization” is more specific than headlines would suggest. Dr. Guido Pieles. a sports cardiologist and chair of Enhanced’s independent medical commission. said steroids are usually associated with visible effects. “and this is clearly wrong.” In his telling. the goal is “finding an optimization. not a maximization of health.”.

Pieles, who is known in elite sports for work with Manchester United FC and FIFA, said Enhanced’s aim is to end “research stigma” so scientists can understand how these drugs affect athletic performance and what can be inferred for preventive health.

He insisted multiple times in conversation that no one needs to enhance. For many people. he said. genetics and taking care of nutrition. sleep. and exercise are enough to become one’s “optimal” self. Unlike Martin and Angermayer, Pieles described himself as unenhanced and said he primarily uses sleep tracking.

His criticism of the broader lack of data was pointed: it encourages gym users to administer drugs in secret and blocks researchers from understanding safe dosages. The Enhanced Games. he said. are meant to contribute to a five-year institutional review board-approved clinical study. with results published as part of that work.

Enhanced’s athletes, executives, and medical staff declined to share individual athletes’ performance-enhancing drug protocols. The primary reason given was to prevent and discourage ordinary people—especially youth—from copying athletes without supervision.

Even so, just before the inaugural Games, Enhanced provided an aggregated list of substances used:

91 percent of athletes used testosterone or testosterone esters
79 percent of athletes used human growth hormone (hGH)
62 percent of athletes used stimulants (e.g. Adderall)
50 percent of athletes used metabolic modulators. primarily ancillary compounds (e.g. Anastrozole). which was used alongside anabolic agents to support protocols
41 percent of athletes used erythropoietin (EPO)
29 percent of athletes used an anabolic steroid agent (e.g. Deca durabolin)
5 percent of athletes used hormonal support therapies (e.g. hCG).

Pieles said experts generally don’t believe EPO has a purpose in swimming shorter distances, because its main role is regulating red blood cells. He said Enhanced’s work suggested they found potentially beneficial effects in promoting shorter recovery times for swimmers.

He emphasized minimal doses and side-effect monitoring. If any athlete recorded a “suboptimal” performance, their protocol would be adjusted. If athletes didn’t pass screening tests, they wouldn’t be allowed to dope. In an example outside the Games itself. Wired reported that strongman Thor Björnsson had to reduce the number of performance-enhancing drugs he was taking to adhere to the Games’ rules.

At a pregame press conference after a journalist suggested Enhanced was treating athletes like lab rats, Pieles sounded genuinely angry. “For me. as a scientist. it’s actually quite embarrassing that as late as 2026. we need to sit here and do a small. statistically insignificant study with 36 athletes to find out what the right dose. the right medical supervision. the right protocol. the right enhancements do for athletes. It’s crazy,” he said.

He argued the study is a start—aimed at breaking stigma.

The pressure falls hardest on athletes, who face ridicule online and ongoing questions about long-term health. Even when participants spoke confidently, the scrutiny followed them.

At a media scrum before the Games, Ben Proud said, “It’s about the money.” Proud won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, and his decision to join the Enhanced Games sent shockwaves through swimming. Proud beat his personal best in the 50-meter freestyle at 20.98 seconds.

“I don’t think I’ve got anything to prove. The world record itself brings about a huge amount of money. What does it change from my past career? It changes nothing,” Proud said.

Enhanced athletes described the Games as a second chance after years of dedicating themselves to sport without stable financial outcomes. Enhanced pays each athlete a base salary plus appearance fees for promotional opportunities. Training and medical testing are covered too. And the downside of finishing last is framed as low: (The reputational downside. however. means enhanced athletes are effectively required to give up their previous careers to participate.).

The top prize is $1 million for breaking world records. Athletes can win between $20,000 and $50,000 for finishing dead last. For comparison, the story pointed to a US Olympic gold medal payout of $37,500, with no bonus for setting a new world best.

Hunter Armstrong. one of the clean athletes. was among four who competed “unenhanced.” Armstrong and Sohib Khaled wore polyurethane swimsuits. despite the fact that polyurethane suits are banned in Olympic competition. Enhanced claimed it supported USADA officials arriving to ensure unenhanced athletes remained clean.

“It’s nothing against the protocol. ” Armstrong told a media audience while saying he wants to remain eligible for the 2028 Olympics. “I don’t know what the study has come up with. but I personally have always taken pride in getting as far as I can on natural. god-given talent. So I don’t care if whatever product [Enhanced] is selling is going to make me live until I’m 200 years old. That could be for some people, but it’s not for me.”.

Magnussen, who had promised to “juice to the gills” for the Enhanced Games, finished last in each of his races. During the scrum he was defensive of Enhanced’s mission and called the Olympics the “most unfair event [he] has ever been a part of,” despite having won three Olympic medals.

He also pushed back on the press scrutiny by asking why no journalist was questioning long-term effects of the covid-19 vaccine, while noting that research is still ongoing and evidence suggests long-term side effects are rare.

“I have to convince my friends back in Australia to dial down the amount of peptides or enhancements they’re taking. In Australia. if you are a man aged between 20 and 50. and you don’t know someone who’s using peptides. has used peptides. or is currently on peptides. then you’re lying. ” he said. “I think all of us want to wake up. feel younger. sharper. and do better at whatever it is that we’ve chosen with our lives.”.

Amid all of this, the question of “science” kept colliding with the business model.

Enhanced’s cofounder and biopharma investor Christian Angermayer said the company wants to be a “steward” of medically supervised biohacking. Angermayer also emphasized that Enhanced frames itself as protection: “We’re the protector. not only of the Enhanced brand. but also of the movement. If we’re sloppy, even if a [substance] is legal, I think people would be disappointed. We’d do a lot of harm,” he said.

Angermayer said he uses enhancements enthusiastically, taking Enhanced’s supplements plus testosterone, tesamorelin, modafinil, and DHEA. Martin confirmed he began “enhancing” two years ago because he didn’t want to speak about athletes going on enhancements without understanding what it did to his own body. though he wouldn’t specify his protocol. Martin told GQ that he uses testosterone.

Enhanced executives also argued that critics underestimate ordinary people. Martin compared Enhanced to Formula One, suggesting that elite-level innovations eventually trickle down to mainstream cars.

But even a sophisticated argument couldn’t fully drown out the practical disputes.

After Gkolomeev’s record, internet sleuths began questioning whether the record was legitimate. In the livestream, it appeared the record was declared broken before Gkolomeev touched the wall. Enhanced spokespeople called the claim “internet drivel.”

Enhanced said timekeeping tech was certified and verified by the same entities used by the Olympics and other international sporting organizations. One staffer held up an official regulation tape measure during the venue tour and challenged reporters to verify the track and pool lengths. The Guardian suggested the clock on the jumbotron wasn’t synced properly. which the story described as believable given repeated glitches.

In many respects, the record’s official status is almost secondary for those watching Enhanced: the effort won’t be acknowledged in official record books recognized by other sporting organizations. What matters is the gap between Enhanced’s official line and how the public perceives the event.

Experts also argued that the clinical framing may not match the structure. Martin Chandler. a research fellow at the University of Birmingham’s School of Sport. Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences. said it was hard to call the work a clinical study if each athlete had a different protocol. Ian Boardley. a professor in the same school. said findings can’t be generalized and placebo effects are difficult to separate because athletes know what they’re taking.

Boardley and Chandler also raised concerns that third-party researchers may struggle to isolate what—if any—substances drive improvements or adverse effects because each athlete combines drugs with performance-enhancing equipment such as polyurethane swimsuits. They also questioned long-term health outcomes and asked whether athletes will stop using enhancement products after the 25-week period.

At a press conference, Pieles acknowledged criticism but said the trial had institutional review board approval. He said he was confident scientific peers would have concerns addressed once the clinical trial is available for peer review.

Pieles also said he believed the independent medical commission chose only FDA-approved substances because side effects were known even when used off-label. He said experimental peptides were disallowed because there wasn’t robust evidence about efficacy. Enhanced refused to publish individual athlete protocols to prevent copycats.

“For me, the whole enhancement thing is that in 10 years, we can move away from steroids. Yes, steroids have side effects. Yes, they make you look good. But I say there are many more drugs coming — particularly if we do the research with the aim of preventing disease. increasing activity span and longevity. We will also shift our drug research profile more this way. For me, it’s really a paradigm shift in medicine,” he said.

As the Games ended. Martin fell to his knees and kowtowed to Gkolomeev during the awards ceremony before other athletes hoisted him up. Streamers exploded over the pool. Enhanced brought in The Killers for a 30-minute concert to close out the event, opening with “Mr. Brightside.” Martin told the mic, “We have arrived at mainstream culture!. We are here to stay!”.

The final question, after one spectacular night, is whether Enhanced is building a movement or staging a one-time stunt.

Martin said Enhanced doesn’t expect to turn a profit in year one. Critics were already pointing out that only one world record was broken and that some unenhanced athletes triumphed over enhanced peers. Martin argued the real victory was that 12 athletes set 14 personal bests.

The audience numbers underscored the spectacle’s pull even as the legitimacy arguments swirled. At its peak, the YouTube stream reached 57,000 concurrent viewers. Many athletes said they would return.

Enhanced said its current plan is to hold the Games once a year going forward, and eventually explore other sports such as cycling.

In future Enhanced clinical trials, Pieles said he hoped to introduce genetic testing to consider whether an athlete may be prone to side effects or other adverse effects.

Outside the Games, the biohacking trend isn’t going away either. For the most committed self-optimizers, the pursuit of a personal “best” is already underway—long before any starting block is drenched in heat and spotlight.

Enhanced Games Cody Miller biohacking performance-enhancing drugs USADA WADA Maximilian Martin Christian Angermayer telehealth peptides testosterone EPO polyurethane swimsuits doping controversy