By Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=115161430
MAGA billionaires are about to juice up on performance-enhancing drugs and compete in sporting events in a new competition known as the Enhanced Games, aka the “Steroid Olympics”, according to Bloomberg's Chris Bryant.
The billionaire-backers of the games, Bryant writes, are doing this "as part of their plan to take their events-slash-telemedicine company public via a special-purpose acquisition company."
"That makes me even warier," he adds.
The Enhanced Games, scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in May, is understandably a controversial, proposed international multi-sport event where athletes will be permitted to use performance-enhancing substances (PEDs) under medical supervision. The event is designed to challenge the traditional Olympic movement by advocating for athlete autonomy, fair pay, and scientific advancement in sports.
"Instead of toiling away for years for fleeting and poorly compensated Olympic glory, Enhanced Games athletes can take testosterone, anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing compounds to win a share of $25 million in potential prize money," Bryant says.
"Incentivizing competitors to pharmaceutically push their bodies to the limit for our enjoyment feels unethical," he adds.
The events organizers claim to be empowering athletes — literally, telling Bryant in a statement, "All enhancement protocols will be based on substances already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration."
Athletes will also need to pass a medical screening to ensure they enter the competition “healthy and safe," Bryant explains.
"More than 60 percent of Enhanced’s social-media audience is aged 18 to 34 and almost all male. Steroid abuse is rife among this group," he writes.
The investors in this startup include what Bryant calls "a blend of Silicon Valley’s libertarian, longevity and self-optimization obsessions and MAGA’s transactional and anti-establishment credentials."
" Until now it’s been bankrolled by a who’s who of cashed up libertarians: Executive Chairman Christian Angermayer, who’s also chairman of psychedelic-drug company Atai Beckley NV and founder of Enhanced’s biggest shareholder, Apeiron Investment Group; venture capitalist Peter Thiel; and the Winklevoss twins. Donald Trump Jnr is also involved via venture firm 1789 Capital, where he’s a partner," he writes.
So far, only about a dozen have signed up for the games, Bryant says, including British swimmer Ben Proud, who won silver at the Paris Olympics and track athlete Fred Kerley, a two-time Olympics medalist over 100 meters.
"The organizers aren’t only relying on creating a sporting spectacle. The bulk of future revenues is expected to come from selling over-the-counter supplements and prescription hormones to US consumers," Bryant says.
And while the steroids promise to pump up the athletes, the startup's bottom line may be deflated.
"Enhanced could end up with a deflating share price and just $40 million to fund its controversial business plan, setting back its ambitions to make us superhuman. Fans of sporting fair play won’t shed many tears," Bryant notes.