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The Enhanced Games market themselves as a drug-friendly alternative to the Olympics. But cofounder and CEO Max Martin says the company’s ambitions extend past sports, into human health and performance optimization.
The inaugural Enhanced Games will take place May 24 in Las Vegas, with 50 athletes ages 21 and older competing to break world records in swimming, track, and weightlifting. Use of performance-enhancing drugs is not required, but athletes are allowed to use certain substances as long as they have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are taken under medical supervision. It will be up to the individual athletes to disclose whether they’re competing enhanced.
The company behind the event, Enhanced Group, wants to change how performance-enhancing drugs are used and viewed in sport and beyond, Martin told Front Office Sports.
“If you look at Hollywood, every actor is enhanced,” Martin said, speaking to FOS on May 8—the day Enhanced Group began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ENHA. “If you look at some of the top executives in the world, many of them are openly enhanced.”
But athletes, “the people that actually need it the most, because being an elite athlete is so taxing on your body,” are prohibited from using the same performance-enhancing substances, he explained.
The categories of allowed substances include anabolic steroids (like testosterone), as well as certain peptides and stimulants (weight-loss drug Ozempic is an example of a peptide, while Adderall is an example of a stimulant).
“Science is the biggest asset we have as a society,” said Martin, who previously cofounded bitcoin mining company Bitfield and before that spent two years working in technology investment banking for Morgan Stanley. “So let’s make use of it.”
Among the most prominent athletes competing in Las Vegas are Britain’s Ben Proud, a swimmer who won a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle in the 2024 Paris Olympics; Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev, who last year broke the world record in the 50-meter freestyle (although his record isn’t recognized by official governing bodies because the achievement came during a standalone event with no audience while he was using performance-enhancing drugs); and Icelandic weightlifter Thor Björnsson, who played The Mountain on Game of Thrones.
Another athlete listed on the Enhanced Games website is Fred Kerley, an Olympic runner who last year was arrested at a hotel in Florida following an incident between Kerley and his former girlfriend Alaysha Johnson, who is also a runner.
On Monday, Roku was revealed as the “North American streaming home” for the Enhanced Games. They will also be available to stream on YouTube and other platforms, Martin said. “We decided not to sell our media rights,” he told FOS. “We wanted the games to be as accessible and easy to watch as can be. No subscription, no geographic restrictions.”
“What was really important to us was to maximize our reach,” he added.
‘There’s a Benefit for Anyone to Live Enhanced’
Enhanced Group, which is backed by billionaire investor Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.’s investment firm, 1789 Capital, went public through a special purpose acquisition company merger Friday that valued the business at $1.2 billion. Shares closed at $9.70 that day, up more than 20% from its opening price; as of Monday afternoon, shares were trading at $7.40 apiece.
The company is already planning next year’s Enhanced Games, but simultaneously is building a consumer-facing business that sells supplements and other performance and longevity products. It will also offer telehealth services.
The idea is not to make everyone “look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime,” Martin said. Instead, the primary focus is on boosting recovery and injury prevention.
It’s been a long road to this year’s Enhanced Games. The company first launched in 2023, billing itself as a “direct challenger to the Olympic Games that aims to celebrate the best of humanity and science.”
Not everyone agrees this competition should be billed as a celebration. The World Anti-Doping Agency has condemned the games, calling them “dangerous and irresponsible.” The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has warned that the event “is being done purely for the entertainment and shock value, with no bearing on the long-term health of the athlete.” The International Federation of Sports Medicine has also criticized the Enhanced Games, with president Fabio Pigozzi saying the organization’s “grave concern” is that “young individuals will be exploited in the quest for fame and fortune and the allure of the Enhanced Games.”
In August, the Enhanced Games lodged an $800 million antitrust lawsuit against the WADA, World Aquatics, and USA Swimming because they told athletes and other members of their organizations they could not participate. That suit was dismissed in November.
Martin stresses that the Enhanced Games are meant to showcase the heights athletic excellence can reach, that any substances are being taken in a safe and supervised manner, and that the athletes are benefiting from a total prize pool of up to $25 million—which equates to half of the total $50 million budget being used to put on this year’s games.
“If you win gold for Team USA at the Olympics, you make $37,500, while the Olympics themselves make billions in sponsorship money and billions in media rights,” Martin told FOS.
Just as important as ensuring the athletes get paid commensurate with what they deserve, however, is showing everyday people can benefit from using FDA-approved performance-enhancing drugs under controlled circumstances, according to Martin.
“It’s amazing that we can change 50 athletes’ lives for the first games, but why not extend this to the broader society?” Martin told FOS. “There’s a benefit for anyone to live enhanced.”
