Why are experts opposed to an 'unrestrained doping Olympics'?



The 2024 Paris Olympics , which will have its opening ceremony on July 26, will be closely monitored for doping, but some people may have thought, 'I wish there was an Olympics-like event where doping was OK.' In fact, plans to hold an event where people could use drugs as much as they wanted are becoming a reality, but experts are warning that it is a very dangerous idea.

Olympics on Steroids? Experts Slam Enhanced Games as 'Extremely Dangerous'. : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/olympics-on-steroids-experts-slam-enhanced-games-as-extremely-dangerous



While most people may think that doping in sports is bad, there are already efforts underway to make the 'Doping-Free Olympics' a reality. Australian businessman Aaron D'Souza has put forward a plan to hold the ' Enhanced Games ' in 2025, which will not subject athletes to drug testing, and in January 2024 it was revealed that PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel had also invested in the Enhanced Games.

Enhanced Games argues that drug testing by the Olympic Committee and anti-doping agencies is repressive but ineffective, that doping appears to be widespread among top athletes, and that drug testing ultimately puts athletes' health at risk as athletes may turn to higher-risk drugs to avoid detection.

'Let me be clear: drug testing is about fairness, not safety,' D'Souza said. 'The Enhanced Games encourages the use of performance-enhancing drugs, with appropriate medical precautions. This is an opportunity to demonstrate what the human body is truly capable of and advance the human species.'

The Enhanced Games also promises to pay all participating athletes, announcing that it will pay $1 million to the first athlete to set a new world record in the 100m sprint and 50m freestyle swim. Following these announcements, James Magnussen, a former Australian Olympic representative who won the men's 100m at the World Aquatics Championships in 2011 and 2013, has expressed his intention to participate in the Enhanced Games.



Enhanced Games is gaining a lot of attention, but experts are expressing their concerns.

Astrid Christine Björnebeck , a medical researcher at Oslo University Hospital in Norway, said she was shocked to learn that Enhanced Games could become a reality.

Björnebeck, who studies the damage that anabolic steroids cause to the brains of weightlifters, said doping competitions could lead to unlimited drug use, and warned that combining steroids with combat sports such as MMA would significantly increase the risk of an athlete dying during competition.

The Enhanced Games, in response, claim that it will be a safer sporting event than the regular Olympics by continuously monitoring the health of all participating athletes. The Enhanced Games official website explains that safety will be ensured through a combination of tests such as echocardiograms , blood tests, and gene sequencing.

However, Dominique Sagoe , a researcher of steroid addiction at the University of Bergen in Norway, is concerned that the Enhanced Games are not only dangerous to the athletes who participate, but that they could have a negative impact on society as a whole. Sagoe pointed out that there is a risk that children inspired by the Enhanced Games will start taking steroids, or that the side effects of steroids will make it difficult to control their anger and cause trouble. 'We can't even imagine the consequences. This is no laughing matter,' he said.



In addition, holding sporting events without drug testing would not increase the freedom of participating athletes, but would also risk pressuring them to use doping to win. John William Devine, a sports ethics researcher at Swansea University in the UK, asks, 'If we abolished restrictions on the use of doping, would athletes be pressured by their coaches, teammates, governments, or sponsors to take risks they would not otherwise take?'

Matthew Dunn , a steroid researcher at Deakin University in Australia, acknowledged that despite best efforts, competitions like the Olympics are not always clean, and said it would be interesting to see what happens when the human body is 'enhanced.' He added, 'I think the public still prefers achievements that come from ability, hard work and dedication, not doping with a syringe,' and said he doesn't think the Enhanced Games will soon surpass the Olympics in popularity.

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