Enhanced Games Announces Inaugural Event in 2026 with $1 Million Prizes

Enhanced Games, a controversial sporting event that permits the use of performance-enhancing drugs, has announced its inaugural event. The competition will take place at Resorts World in Las Vegas during Memorial Day weekend in 2026. Backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, the Enhanced Games were first revealed in February 2024 and aim to challenge traditional athletic norms by setting new sports standards.

The founder of Enhanced Games, Aron D’Souza, highlighted the event's unique approach by referencing the 50-meter freestyle record broken by former Olympic swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev. This achievement was documented in the film “50 Meters to History: The First Superhuman,” which details Gkolomeev’s training and the enhancements used to set the record. D’Souza emphasized that the Enhanced Games are not competing with traditional Olympic records but rather establishing a new category of athletic achievement.

D’Souza also noted the significant financial incentives for athletes participating in the Enhanced Games. Every major world record broken during the event comes with a $1 million prize, a stark contrast to the average earnings of an Olympian. He stated that the average Olympian in the United States earns around $30,000 a year, making the Enhanced Games' prize the highest ever paid to a swimmer, likely by a factor of ten. Athletes will be supported by a team of coaches, doctors, physiologists, nutritionists, and data scientists, with robust safety guidelines in place to ensure their well-being.

D’Souza acknowledged the divided reactions to the Enhanced Games, with the tech world embracing the event as a vision of the future, while the traditional sports establishment views it with skepticism. He argued that the Enhanced Games represent a necessary evolution in athletics, challenging the status quo and pushing the boundaries of human performance. The event promises to redefine the limits of what athletes can achieve, offering unprecedented rewards for those who break records under the Enhanced Games banner.