Some suggested events for Peter Thiel’s all-drug Olympics
In a case of life imitating Saturday Night Live, Peter Thiel has invested in a seed round of the Enhanced Games, which describes itself as “the modern reinvention of the Olympic Games that does not have drug testing.”
It does seem to go a little beyond just not testing, though, at least judging by the press release. The investors “see the vision of a new model of sports, that openly celebrates scientific innovation and honestly represents the use of performance enhancements in sports today,” said Aron D’Souza, president of the Enhanced Games, in the statement. Thiel himself certainly has no problem backing medical experiments.
The release says some weird things about not burdening taxpayers because it’s a private company, which made me laugh pretty hard, given the history of privately owned teams demanding taxpayer-funded stadiums. In fairness to the Enhanced Games, their initial focuses appear to be track and field, swimming, gymnastics, weight lifting, and “combat sports,” which have less of a history of strong-arming the public than, let’s say, baseball or football. Of course, that may simply be because those sports are less popular!
I am not going to ask too many questions about the legality of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs); many are legal with a prescription, anyway. (Laws and enforcement also vary by country.) There are some health risks involved with PEDs, as there are with all drugs. The Enhanced Games attempts to allay this concern by noting it will do extensive medical checks before events, which seems wise; having an athlete’s arms fall off during competition would be, at minimum, bad press.
Personally, I don’t especially care what adults do with their bodies, drug-wise. I do think, however, the Enhanced Games is missing out on some chances to innovate. Here are some of my proposals:
The point of testing for PEDs in sports is, as I understand it, to provide an equal playing field for athletes who can’t or won’t use them. (Russia even ran state-sponsored doping programs, which certainly feels like an unfair advantage against smaller competitors.) But detection and enforcement have been decidedly uneven. Who knows? Maybe the Enhanced Games will draw the PED users away from other sports, leaving the athletes who prefer to work clean better able to showcase their own abilities.
In a case of life imitating Saturday Night Live, Peter Thiel has invested in a seed round of the Enhanced Games, which describes itself as “the modern reinvention of the Olympic Games that does not have drug testing.” It does seem to go a little beyond just not testing, though,…
Recent Posts
- Apple is bringing age verification to Texas this week
- How to watch NBA Finals 2026: Free streams, schedule, TV channels for New York Knicks vs San Antonio Spurs
- WiiM expands its whole-home ecosystem with a new soundbar
- You can make the hyper-violence in Marvel’s Wolverine more PG-13, if you want to
- Best Buy launches a huge Sonos sale ahead of the World Cup — here are the 7 top-rated soundbars and speakers I’d buy
Archives
- June 2026
- May 2026
- April 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- December 2025
- November 2025
- October 2025
- September 2025
- August 2025
- July 2025
- June 2025
- May 2025
- April 2025
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023