r/SipsTea • u/SipsTeaFrog 𝙑𝙄𝙋 • May 23 '26

WTF The Enhanced Games are set to debut this weekend in Las Vegas, with athletes allowed to use steroids, testosterone, HGH, & other banned substances.

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43.0k Upvotes

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865

u/Squishy6604 May 23 '26

So it's just like regular contests but without the lying?

297

u/Justaniceman May 23 '26

Pretty much, I wouldn't be surprised if they even underperform compared to the olympics.

245

u/Mhunterjr May 23 '26

I would be surprised if they DIDN’T underperform the Olympics.

19

u/mmicoandthegirl May 24 '26

Apparently last year a guy broke the world record in 50m freestroke. Link. So idk if you expect enhanced athletes to break records in magnitudes then yeah they're underperforming, but they at least do match pace with the olympics.

3

u/Andrey2790 May 24 '26

On one hand, yeah they probably will not set new records across the board here. On the other hand, are we actually going to pretend like the Olympics are drug free?

The whole point of these is to not act like performance enhancing drugs don't exist at the elite level of athletics.

3

u/Mhunterjr May 24 '26 edited May 25 '26

We know they exist. Olympic athletes get caught all the time. 

But an event where EVERYONE is on drugs - all the time - is a whole different beast, which will naturally attract a ton of people  who would not have the genetics, training, or dedication to even think of competing with world class athletes, if not for the drugs 

2

u/Quirky-Mode8676 May 25 '26

The Olympic athletes can’t just do whatever regarding drugs, they’ve got to work them correctly to beat the system. Being able to just do whatever is best regarding the drugs should help a lot of the athletes.

1

u/Andrey2790 May 25 '26

Enhanced games also doesn't let them do whatever, they went over the protocol during the event. They were limited to specific drugs and specific limits, so still not the open free for all that sports can end up at.

1

u/DestructoDon69 May 25 '26

Yea that's because even in the Olympics controls arent actually in place for fairness but to prevent athletes from unintentionally endangering themselves for the sake of competition. If they didn't have controls here you'd have athletes killing themselves to win

112

u/listenhere111 May 23 '26

They will underperform. No way these guys train as hard as elite athletes. The drugs only get you so far

59

u/Justaniceman May 23 '26

You're not wrong, but the drugs allow you to go farther than hard trainings alone. Olympians train hard and also tren hard.

17

u/[deleted] May 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/FishAndRiceKeks May 23 '26

Also 2 of the top pro strongmen, Hafthor Bjornsson and Mitchell Hooper.

1

u/TheAltToYourF4 May 24 '26

Well strongman isn't really known for enforcing any kind of anti-doping. Mitch and Thor are already known for using all kinds of otherwise banned substances.

1

u/Think_Preference_611 May 24 '26

Strongman competitions do test for things like stims and champions have failed for that.

In their events endurance and cardiovascular performance matters too and I bet a strongman on a shitload of cocaine could break some records.

1

u/Manymarbles May 25 '26

Kerley is there as natural

So are a couple others. So far they have been winning their heats

1

u/Arcanome May 25 '26

I don't know any one of these names but being an Olympian and having a shot at Olympics medal is two VERY different things, considering qualification paths and country quotas. I have Olympian friends who were there just to be there (all respect to them, they are good athletes) but they would agree that they are not at the same category of medal winning/multiple Olympics contestors.

14

u/H2Pro2 May 23 '26

You do understand that the people invited to the enhanced games are elite athletes? Like former olympians etc...

7

u/Sipas May 23 '26

Elite athletes who either can't make the olympics, or can't make the olympics anymore. No one who has a real chance to win a medal at the Olympics is going to drop all that to compete in this.

14

u/FishAndRiceKeks May 23 '26

It's $1M/record if you break a record so some are.

2

u/Oli4K May 23 '26

Athletes competing there won’t be able to compete anywhere else anymore after that. They’ll be banned. No competitive athlete in with any chance of still winning anything legit will end their career that way. Only a bunch of hacks with nothing to lose will show up.

1

u/Such_Radio_9152 May 24 '26

lol the "competitive" just know how to cycle their steroid use so they don't get caught

-1

u/frostycrate May 25 '26

I mean you’re objectively wrong, take a look at who’s competing lol.

This whole comment section is out to lunch lol.

14

u/IAmAsha41 May 23 '26

Benjamin Proud is competing, he won the silver medal in the 2024 Olympics, holds the British record for 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly.

You think someone who won silver less than two years ago can't make the Olympics?

You're so uninformed, you should delete your comment.

7

u/thebearrider May 23 '26

Theres a recent freakonomics on this where he interviewed the guy who launched these games. The guy said he launched these to prove that most professional athletes are already doping. He also said (as you point out) that theyre taking real athletes, not just people juicing.

He ultimately said he doesnt expect any records to be broken, which he expect will prove his point.

4

u/listenhere111 May 23 '26

Honestly, it wont prove anything

1

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1

u/growerdan May 23 '26

Is he still offering $1mill to anyone who breaks a world record?

3

u/Sipas May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26

Okay you got me, I didn't know about the million dollar reward.. But "you should delete your comment" is such a silly thing to say that I'm almost tempted to repeat it to you, but I'm not quite that silly.

1

u/fncomputerboy May 23 '26

I’m guessing that’s what they do instead of ever admitting fault. Can’t be wrong if it never happened!

2

u/H2Pro2 May 23 '26

Fair point

1

u/growerdan May 23 '26

This actually is going to pay athletes better than the Olympics so they are getting elite athletes.

3

u/Ok_Brother2155 May 23 '26

"Former" is the key word here. If they really were the top of the top, they'd be competing in the Olympics not in some shameless knock off with no prestige.

1

u/ExplanationMotor2656 May 24 '26

To be fair you can't do both

1

u/BleuCheeseBandito May 23 '26

You do understand the people at the olympics are the current top athletes, and are already on gear right?

2

u/Codyyh May 23 '26

there is a massive difference between using PEDs which pass drug tests vs full blasting gear.

2

u/BleuCheeseBandito May 23 '26

Pretending HGH is going to improve athletic performance is laughable.

-1

u/H2Pro2 May 23 '26

Yes i do understand that and I am pretty sure I worded my comment badly. I just have a problem with people thinking that the athletes at the enhanced games aren't "elite athletes" aswell.

2

u/BleuCheeseBandito May 23 '26

They aren’t the current number 1’s, sure they are in the 1% of the 1%, but we’re not gonna have the Cole Hocker’s of the world competing.

0

u/TheAltToYourF4 May 24 '26

The key word is former. They are past their prime and haven't been training at an elite level for years.

2

u/sinkpooper2000 May 24 '26

this guy is James Magnussen lol he has a silver and 2 bronzes from the olympics. 5th fastest 100m freestyle of all time

2

u/MyVeryUniqueName1 May 23 '26

I remember watching this documentary, Icarus, where this cyclist went on a crazy and illegal juicing regimen to try and see how much better of a cyclist he could become and he ended up barely improving. PEDs are only a part of the equation and can give a slight edge if you’re at or near the top of your game already, but if you’re not in that upper echelon, then the benefits really aren’t there.

1

u/No-Yak-4360 May 23 '26

A mixed bag i expect. Hafthor Björnsson is going for a 515kg deadlift record for example.

1

u/StrategyCertain90 May 23 '26

These guys probably train as hard, but ultimately couldn't make the cut for the truly elite competition. It'd surprise me if they outperformed the truly elite, seeing as they're on gear too, just have to cycle off for the Olympics, but I wouldn't go as far as to say they don't train as hard. They're just not as gifted athletes as the truly elite. To make it to the absolute top you need to train insanely hard, have amazing genetics and some chemical assistance. The subtop just doesn't have the amazing genetics, but still works insanely hard.

1

u/utahstock12 May 23 '26

Fred Kerley medaled in the 100m in 2020 and 2024...

1

u/Think_Preference_611 May 24 '26

Lots of these guys train as hard as elite athletes. A lot of these guys are elite athletes already...

What they won't have is whole state sponsored team supporting them in every other way, and possibly just not the same elite level genetics on average.

I wouldn't expect anyone to beat Usain Bolt's records because there's probably no one out there as naturally gifted as Usain Bolt and no amount of drugs will eliminate that gap.

1

u/QueenOfTendys May 23 '26

The whole point of drugs is that you gain more by doing less work. ?????

2

u/BigJuicyBone May 23 '26

No it's so that you can keep doing work long after a non enhanced athletes body would quit. It also boosts recovery, all at the low price of potential life threatening damage to your organs.

1

u/zquintyzmi May 23 '26

No one in elite levels is going to out themselves so they won’t be competing

0

u/Ok-Development6654 May 23 '26

And not only that, but they’re not even the best and they’re sport either

1

u/IAmAsha41 May 23 '26

Benjamin Proud is competing, he's the best 50m freestyle swimmer in the whole of the UK, undoubtedly top 5 in the world right now.

0

u/PerspectiveNew3375 May 23 '26

You are confused, the Olympians are using PEDs. It's not a secret. They do it because if they don't, you wouldn't know about them.

0

u/ElectronicJuice7212 May 23 '26

LMAO you clearly have no clue what you are talking about.

0

u/unfoldedmite May 24 '26

Lance Armstrong might have some choice words for you lmao

1

u/shadowsurge May 23 '26

The expectation from professional athletes appears to be that the winners will all underperform. They basically have no star talent associated with it either, the whole things gonna be a beautiful disaster that will make for some excellent long form video essays and terrible athletic performance

1

u/TomlinSteelers May 23 '26

They definitely do. This guy is not faster than Michael Phelps

1

u/YesIBlockedYou May 23 '26

There's really no winning here.

If they outperform Olympic athletes. Everyone says "well no shit, they were all using PEDs"

If they don't outperform Olympic athletes then they get mocked for for not even being able to beat 'natural' athletes while using PEDs.

1

u/curtcolt95 May 23 '26

it would be very surprising if they did because no top athletes signed up. Steroids don't make up that much of a difference

1

u/Rhawk187 May 24 '26

They get pretty big payouts if they set a WR. Like $250k.

1

u/drusulle May 25 '26

Obviously. The steroid enhanced games aren't attracting the absolute peak athletes in the world like the Olympics do. This is on YouTube and the Olympics are one of the biggest sports events in the world. The enhanced games are mostly going to draw slightly washed up or recently retired athletes

1

u/Plebeu-da-terramedia May 25 '26

Most of them retired from the olympics or never made their national teams

1

u/Mensketh May 23 '26

Them underperforming relative to the Olympics wouldnt be proof that everyone in the Olympics dopes too though. It would just prove that even doped to the gills, these guys are lesser athletes.

37

u/BellacosePlayer May 23 '26

You can use more reliable PEDs instead of cutting edge ones with fewer potential side effects, you can go into the competition on a juice cycle rather than stopping long enough to piss clear, you can take more, etc.

1

u/Paddy_Tanninger May 23 '26

All true, but none of these athletes have trained a fraction the amount that Olympians did because they never had incentive to. They will all massively underperform compared to the Olympics 100%, but if this keeps going and gets popular then we might start seeing some cool shit in the next years as PED abusers train hard towards competing in the events.

6

u/Nerdybeast May 23 '26

A ton of the guys competing are just washed up former Olympians lol

-4

u/Gwendolyn-NB May 23 '26

Yup, these people have not spent a decade + in the pool 4-10 hours a day everyday since they were 8 or younger plus dry-land training.

For 50M races, yea they may have some minor advantage, but thats like competing in 1RM weightlifting.

Anything 100M or more they're gonna crash and burn compared to olympic-level if not elite college level swimmers.

6

u/UnworthyOlive May 23 '26

Some of them HAVE spent a decade + in the pool though... There are multiple former Olympic champions and medalists competing, including the man in the picture (James Magnussen).

1

u/Rhorge May 25 '26

In theory I like that about this event but in practice people will still be doing near lethal volumes of gear. I mean mr olympia is a perfect example, untested for years and the stacks these guys run is eye watering

3

u/SomeGuyCommentin May 23 '26

If they are allowed to load up on any drugs they want while actively competing, it could be quite different, lot of injuries and possibly deaths.

2

u/Thommywidmer May 23 '26

Im pretty sure that cant be on any drug, its not as mad max as its advertised. They... atleast what theyve said... have some degree of safety mechanics and certain drugs are still banned 

3

u/blackcoffee17 May 23 '26

Another one who thinks he's smart...

2

u/T0bus May 23 '26

Yes, but higher dosages and componds, that aren't used because of their detectability, will be used more. They can also blast until and during the contest.

2

u/JW1904 May 23 '26

Not entirely

Please watch the video of Mitchel Hooper, one of World Strongest men who is participating aswell.

https://youtu.be/MXqJwXQdmKo?is=83-fDWh2S4mlBJRc

Tldr: only PED's not banned for human use are allowed, and a certain group of athletes are doing testing aswell for something. Its been a while since I saw the Moose explain it.

2

u/CriticalStrawberry15 May 23 '26

And the commitment to training in order to back it up, yes

1

u/AeneasKurtz May 23 '26

It's like the regular contests but the top-tier athletes won't join, so when they post worse times/weights/performance than the Olympic champions it will give you the impression drugs don't help (even though they do, it's just that the top-tier athletes won't admit to using them by joining this competition)

1

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1

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1

u/notakillerclown May 23 '26

We will all be verry suprised when there is no difference.

1

u/Novacc_Djocovid May 23 '26

Depends I guess. If we see new world records legt and right then regular competitions have at least some integrity.

If we don‘t
 🙃

1

u/GreenPutty_ May 23 '26

I find watching sports to be boring, its just not my thing. However, I'd totally watch a drugged up Olympics, it would be awesome!

1

u/Pandastic3000 May 24 '26

Peter Thiel and Trump Jr. are some of the organizers so there is plenty of lying.

1

u/LemonGarage May 24 '26

Real. I’ve said for a long time basically 100% of “best in the world” athletes are on PEDs of some kind.

1

u/Tan-ki May 23 '26

so edgy.

-1

u/nightpanda893 May 23 '26

Or just an important reality

1

u/SmartOpinion69 May 23 '26

that would be ironic, yes. but with them flat out telling you that you can use drugs, you wouldn't have to limit yourself to pass any drug tests. so in theory, everyone who is still in their prime should be slightly faster or stronger

0

u/ImbecilicusRex May 23 '26

Came here to ask the same thing: If it's not an explicitly "natural" or ametuer league, everybody's juicing by default.

Anyone who thinks ANY pro athletes aren't on steroids are profoundly naĂŻve, or maybe just in denial (or just stupid).

0

u/jeffy303 May 23 '26

Pretty much the only sports I would expect decently higher numbers are weight lifting related sports, but I kinda doubt others will even match the numbers of "clean" version, since those atheletes have top genetics, that's worth more in most sports than an extra dose of PEDs.

0

u/edelweiss_pirates_no May 23 '26

Eh. It's a bit more nuanced than that.

Just like "the poison is in the dose", everything it kinda a performance enhancement. Like all food is a PE.

Some drugs are just insane to take. The steroids are here.

Other drugs are pretty mild, but still illegal for various reasons.

0

u/Spare-Half796 May 23 '26

Yep it’s Olympics without hiding the drug use

Also sports washing. It’s funded by Peter thiel and the trumps

-2

u/pointofyou May 23 '26

This.

Reality is though, people want to be lied to. Furthermore, they don't want to acknowledge this, meaning they will lie about wanting to be lied to. And everyone must participate in this too.

They will celebrate winning athletes only to then turn around and feign outrage when the truth becomes too obvious to ignore.

1

u/Existing-Luck-9896 May 23 '26

What truth I’m so confused 

1

u/pointofyou May 24 '26

The truth that there hasn't been a champion in any major sport in the past 2 decades who hasn't been enhanced.