“The greatest gift I can give to humanity,” these were the words of Aron D’Souza, who jolted the sports world by unveiling a provocative idea of the Enhanced Games in the summer of 2023—a global sporting event where performance-enhancing d—- (PEDs) would not be banned but openly embraced; the games were framed as a radical alternative to the Olympics and promised to showcase the limits of human potential, unfettered by anti-doping regulations.

And as of early 2025, the Enhanced Games appeared financially viable as well, with The New York Post in their exclusive interview reporting that Donald Trump Jr. and a group of unnamed investors recently led a “double-digit million-dollar” funding round. While the exact amount remained undisclosed, the Games have already drawn early backing from notable figures like venture capitalist Peter Thiel and German billionaire Christian Angermayer.

Additionally, Las Vegas might soon host this controversial sporting event, but the backlash is already echoing across continents. In what the organizers hailed as a “revolution in human performance,” the inaugural Enhanced Games, scheduled for May 21–24, 2026, will feature athletes unrestricted by anti-doping regulations and are set to take place at the glamorous Resorts World on the Vegas Strip. The Games promise to “celebrate scientific achievement in sport.” But not everyone is celebrating.

In a sharp rebuke, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA)—the country’s top agency overseeing clean competition—voiced grave concerns: “We work to ensure that sport is safe and fair for all. The Enhanced Games is promoting the complete opposite and poses a significant risk to athlete health and safety while undermining the fundamental values of sport in Australia.

“SIA condemns competitions that promote d— use and d—– methods in sport, particularly those that may seek to exploit athletes for financial gain and influence.”

Sport Integrity Australia’s Athlete Advisory Group (AAG) also expressed deep concern: “Our priority is to use our lived experiences as elite athletes to advocate for practices and policies that support clean, fair, safe, and ethical sport. For us, competitive sport is more than simply breaking records… The normalisation of performance-enhancing d—- promotes d—– as entertainment, putting athletes at risk, and devalues the efforts of those who choose to compete clean. We are concerned about the negative role modeling impact on young athletes in particular, and the related health risks of using performance-enhancing substances or methods that may be inadvertently viewed as safe.”

While criticism continues to mount, organizers of the Enhanced Games insist they’re not throwing athlete safety out the window; athletes will undergo full medical screening, psychological evaluations, and continuous health monitoring using advanced tools like real-time portable echocardiograms. Organizers say independent scientific and ethics boards will oversee all protocols to ensure safety at all times.

What will Enhanced Games 2026 look like?

After all the hype and heated debates, the inaugural edition of the Enhanced Games is finally shaping up, and it’s anything but traditional. The Games will feature three core disciplines: swimming, track, and weightlifting.

The swimming program includes 50m and 100m freestyle, along with the 50m and 100m butterfly. On the track, it’s the explosive 100m sprint, the 60m dash, and hurdles—110m for XY and 100m for XX athletes. Weightlifting will cover the snatch and the clean and jerk.

But what truly sets these Games apart is the approach to gender categories. Instead of the usual male and female divisions, the Enhanced Games will group competitors by their chromosomes—XX and XY.

Then there’s the money. Organizers are dangling massive prize purses: up to $500,000 for each event, with $250,000 going to the winner alone. And if someone smashes the 100m sprint or 50m freestyle world record? A jaw-dropping $1 million bonus awaits. Other world record breakers won’t go home empty-handed either—they’ll pocket an extra $250,000.

That is quite an extensive prize purse. What do you think about the Enhanced Games? Let us know in the comments below.