Trump Jr.-Backed ‘Steroid Olympics’ Launch in Las Vegas This Sunday

A New Arena for Performance Enhancement

This weekend, 42 athletes will gather in Las Vegas for a competition that challenges the foundational rules of professional sports. While the event, known as the Enhanced Games, features traditional disciplines including swimming, track, and weightlifting, it distinguishes itself by explicitly allowing the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Organizers have positioned the event as a modern alternative to traditional Olympic-style competitions, which have long maintained strict bans on such substances. The roster of participants features several notable figures from the world of elite athletics. Among them are American sprinter Fred Kerley, a 2022 100m world champion, and Australian swimmer James Magnussen, who has earned three Olympic medals. They are joined by U.S. Olympic gold medalist swimmer Cody Miller, who recently signaled his support for the shift in athletic standards. “The old rulebook is gone.”Cody Miller, U.S. Olympic gold medalist, via NBC News The event is backed by significant financial investment. 1789 Capital, an investment firm associated with Donald Trump Jr., is a participant on the company’s cap table and led a Series B funding round in 2025. The company behind the event, Enhanced Group, recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

Clinical Supervision and Drug Protocols

Organizers of the Enhanced Games contend that their model prioritizes athlete safety through medical oversight rather than prohibition. According to company disclosures, participating athletes were not mandated to use drugs, but those who chose to do so entered a 12-week trial supervised by medical staff in Abu Dhabi. The substances allowed under the games’ protocols are restricted to those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company reported that the most frequently used substances among the 34 athletes in the trial were testosterone and testosterone esters, utilized by 91% of participants. Human growth hormone was used by 79% of the cohort. Other categories included stimulants, metabolic modulators, and peptides. Beyond the competition itself, the organization aims to establish itself as a provider of longevity and performance products. In March, the company announced a line of supplements and hormone replacement therapies. Christian Angermayer, a billionaire investor behind the project, has framed the initiative as a broader effort to expand the use of medical treatments for health and performance goals. “The Enhanced Games represent the future — real competition, real freedom and real records being smashed.”Donald Trump Jr., via CNBC

Opposition from Global Sports Bodies

The approach adopted by the Enhanced Games has met with strong condemnation from the established sporting world. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee have jointly denounced the event. In a statement issued last year, athlete-led commissions from both bodies characterized the promotion of performance-enhancing drugs as “a betrayal of everything that we stand for” and described the endeavor as “utterly irresponsible and immoral.” Critics argue that normalizing the use of substances like EPO, anabolic agents, and stimulants risks the health of athletes and undermines the integrity of competitive sports. Despite this, organizers maintain that their model offers a “safe, responsible, and clinically supervised use of performance enhancements,” contrasting their approach with what they describe as the “indiscriminate use of restricted substances” that occurs in the shadows of traditional athletics.

Financial Incentives and Future Growth

A major component of the Enhanced Games’ pitch to athletes is a significant prize pool. Winners of each event are set to earn $250,000 as part of a total pool of $25 million. Furthermore, the company has offered a $1 million prize to any athlete who breaks a world record during the Sunday event. This structure has already yielded results for some; last year, Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev received a $1 million payout after breaking the 50-meter freestyle world record during a private event sponsored by the organization. As the inaugural games approach, the company is positioning itself to capture a market of consumers interested in performance optimization. Angermayer has suggested that the event will encourage public interest in products like testosterone cream and peptides, which the company intends to market through its platform. As the event prepares to host 2,500 spectators in Las Vegas, the long-term impact on the sporting industry remains unclear. Supporters believe the event will attract millions of viewers, while regulators continue to warn against the dangers of the path the games have chosen to follow.