By Vince Rugari
Australian Olympic Committee chief Mark Arbib has warned any Australian athletes who are considering a tilt at the Enhanced Games next year to think again, saying their involvement would not be supported or sanctioned.
Arbib has taken a dim view of plans for the Enhanced Games to be launched next year in Las Vegas, including events in swimming, athletics, and weightlifting and with a format that will pit clean athletes against those who have taken performance-enhancing drugs under supervision for the same lucrative prize money.
“It’s a dangerous and risky venture,” Arbib said on Friday.
“People need to remember drugs in sport are banned primarily for health reasons. We care about the welfare of the athletes. We care about the welfare of the community. Taking drugs can negatively impact your health, but it can also lead to death.
“So any event that is promoting the use of performance enhancing drugs, promoting the use of steroids, is not something that we would ever be associated with or sanction.
“It’s the complete opposite of what the Olympic movement stands for. We stand for a level playing field. We stand for the principles of Olympism. And this venture, this commercial venture, is about making money and about undermining the global anti-drug enforcement strategies and networks that are in place.”
Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Mark Arbib.Credit: Getty Images for the AOC
Founded by Australian entrepreneur Aron D’Souza, the Enhanced Games plans to pay $US250,000 for each gold medal and $US1 million to anyone who breaks a world record in the 100m sprint or 50m freestyle swimming.
Organisers say all athletes – clean or enhanced – will be paid appearance fees, which is where temptation might creep in for Olympians to consider entering, in the knowledge that they would not have to take drugs or otherwise risk their health or status. However, the concern among those across sporting bodies is that that could potentially legitimise what is one of the most contentious and controversial ventures ever seen in modern sport.
Though Arbib stopped short of saying the AOC would place a ban on any Australian athletes from taking part in the Enhanced Games, he strongly discouraged any of them from doing so.
“We haven’t had discussions [about that],” he said.
James Magnussen ahead of his world record attempt.Credit: Enhanced Games
“But I know what Cam McEvoy, one of our Olympic gold medalists, said today: that if they’re taking drugs, if they’re taking steroids, then these records don’t count.
“Again, this is a dangerous commercial venture, and it’s something that the whole of the Olympic movement frowns upon. And we hope that all our athletes view this in a negative connotation and do not get involved.”
On the involvement of former Olympian James Magnussen, who has become one of the faces of the Enhanced Games after taking a cocktail of drugs and peptides in a failed attempt to break the men’s 50m freestyle world record, Arbib said: “It’s a decision for him.”
The World Anti-Doping Agency, meanwhile, has condemned the Enhanced Games as a “dangerous and irresponsible concept” that would jeopardise the health and well-being of athletes. In a statement, WADA said that any athletes or support personnel who did take part would do so at the risk of committing anti-doping offences, as well as their own reputations - and that those who did would be target-tested before, during and afterwards to “protect the integrity of legitimate sport”.
“Over the years, there have been many examples of athletes suffering serious long-term side-effects from their use of prohibited substances and methods. Some have died,” the statement said.
“This is one area that should unite all Anti-Doping Organisations and governments around the world, not least in the U.S. where the event is now scheduled to take place. We invite all our clean sport partners, including athletes, to join us in condemning this event regardless of its wealthy and influential supporters.
“It has become clear from the event’s launch in Las Vegas that a focus of the organisers is to sell their products and to play down the associated risks. Inducing elite athletes to use their profiles to promote the use of prohibited and potentially dangerous substances is harmful, in particular for young athletes.”