Enhanced Games: Athletes' lives could be at risk, says Kieren Perkins
- Published
Former world champion James Magnussen has agreed to come out of retirement to compete in the Enhanced Games
Athletes' lives could be at risk if the Enhanced Games are allowed to go ahead, says Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins.
The Games is a proposed Olympics-style event where doping is allowed.
The event, founded by Australian businessman Aron D'Souza in 2023, would not be subject to World Anti-Doping Agency rules.
"The idea of an Enhanced Games is laughable," Perkins said at the SportNXT conference on Tuesday.
"Someone will die if we allow that sort of environment to continue to prosper and flourish."
Perkins, a former Olympic, world and Commonwealth champion swimmer, added: "We don't want people to be taking performance-enhancing drugs because of the significant impact it has on them and their future and their future families."
D'Souza told reporters the competition would prioritise athletes' well-being.
"We're health-testing to make sure our athletes are healthy and safe to compete," he said. "I don't want an athlete to be injured or die in competition.
"How are we going to do this? By doing full system health check-ups on all of our athletes; blood work, echocardiograms, maybe even MRIs.
"New advances in technology are also very useful and enable continuous real-time health screening."
Earlier this year, D'Souza said athletes scheduled to take part in this summer's Olympic Games in Paris had expressed an interest in competing at the Enhanced Games.
World Athletics president Lord Coe said anyone who does is "moronic" and would face a lengthy ban.
Former world champion swimmer James Magnussen agreed to come out of retirement in February to compete and attempt to swim faster than the 50m freestyle world record, which was set in 2009, in return for $1m.
The event is planned to include athletics, swimming, weightlifting, gymnastics and combat sports, though no date or venue has yet been set.
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