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The Enhanced Games, a “steroid Olympics” backed by Donald Trump Jr and billionaire Peter Thiel, has announced it will launch at a Las Vegas casino in May 2026.
The games, which would allow athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs in order to break world records, are part of a growing wellness and longevity movement that has gained popularity among some in the tech industry as well as those close to the White House.
The inaugural event at Resorts World Las Vegas will feature competitions in swimming, track and field, and weightlifting. Organisers of the event have said that athletes would be supervised by independent medical professionals.
“We live in a world transformed by science — from vaccines to AI. But sport has stood still,” said Aron D’Souza, president of the Games. “We’re embracing the full spectrum of human potential, and that begins with transparency, science, and choice.”
D’Souza is best-known for his role as the lawyer who facilitated a Thiel-funded lawsuit against the news website Gawker, which ultimately led to the site’s demise.
In February, Donald Trump Jr’s venture fund 1789 Capital announced it would invest in the games. “This is about excellence, innovation, and American dominance on the world stage, something the Maga movement is all about,” Trump Jr said at the time.
Other backers of the games include biotech and psychedelics investor Christian Angermayer and former Andreessen Horowitz general partner Balaji Srinivasan.
D’Souza has repeatedly spoken out against the Olympic Committee and international anti-doping authorities for its “anti-science” attitudes and unfair treatment of athletes.
High-profile cases of allegedly contaminated drug tests — including that of Grand Slam-winning tennis player Jannik Sinner — have raised questions about the role of anti-doping rules in recent years, leading some in the sports world to criticise the methods and regulatory handling of doping-related suspensions.
Chair of the World Anti-Doping Agency athlete council Ryan Pini said in March that the organisation was “firmly opposed to the so-called Enhanced Games and any event that promotes the use of performance-enhancing substances and methods”.
“These games represent a dangerous and reckless concept that disregards athletes’ health and wellbeing.”
On Wednesday the games announced that one of its athletes had successfully broken a first world record, awarding Olympic swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev a $1mn prize for breaking the 50-metre freestyle record with the help of performance drugs.
The games also said it would launch a line of supplements, including “longevity enhancements” obtained through a “telehealth experience”.
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