At the inaugural Enhanced Games this weekend, something unprecedented is taking place; professional athletes from around the world will be encouraged to swim, lift, and sprint with the aid of performance enhancing drugs.
The competition — nicknamed the 'Doping Olympics' — has provoked enormous controversy in the world of sport. Enhanced runs counter to the many athletic organisations who have spent decades prioritising a crackdown on performance enhancing drugs. Many in the sporting world say that a competition that endorses doping will normalise unfair and possibly dangerous drug use. But supporters argue that the competition will facilitate the safe, open use of drugs that are often taken unsafely and without medical supervision at competitions elsewhere.
BBC sports editor Dan Roan joins us to break down all things Enhanced Games. His documentary, Enhanced Games: A Sporting Revolution or Dangerous Doping?, is available now on YouTube.
Producers: Xandra Ellin and Valerio Esposito
Executive producers: James Shield and China Collins
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Olympic swimming medallist Ben Proud has become the first British athlete to join the Enhanced Games, an event which allows athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs. Credit: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire.
