Thoughts On The Enhanced Games
The selling point of this whole thing was "what if steroids were legal?" A bunch of Silicon Valley ghouls decided to follow through on an idea idea that has been thrown around for decades, and the results were decidedly underwhelming.
My main complaint is that these guys didn't lean into the gimmick as much as they could have. They did not let competitors use anything they wanted. There was an approved substances list, premised on the fact that doctors would oversee and monitor everyone's health markers throughout preparation. Instead of being a PED free-for-all, there were still rules; the whole thing felt really weird, with discussions of drug usage very muted.
I doubt any meaningful data was gleaned from this experiment. You're not going to learn very much from such a small sample size of athletes, all engaged in polypharmacy. Any findings are also going to be subject to individual variability. Not everyone responds to steroids the same. I'm honestly not sure if they were serious about the data-gathering aspect, or if it was part of the veneer they slapped on the event to legitimize it.
The organizers offered big prizes for breaking world records, although only one was handed out — and it's legitimacy is hotly disputed. Further casting doubt on the whole premise was the fact that several event winners weren't even using PEDs. Even in 2026, a lot of people can't understand or accept that drugs aren't a substitute for talent — even if they can certainly enhance it. To assume that the very best athletes are only such because they take more drugs, or better drugs, is to reveal a stunning lack of understanding of sports and the concept of talent.
The only draw for me was potentially seeing Hafthor Bjornsson break his own deadlift world record (again), by pulling 515kg. Unfortunately, he was not successful. It's arguable he might have been on fewer PEDs for the Steroid Olympics than a regular strongman show, but I wouldn't blame that for failing to break an absurd lifting record. A lot of things have to go perfectly in order to lift 1135 pounds off the ground. I truly believe Thor could have made that lift the night he pulled 510kg — his winning effort was that convincing.
Aside from streaming metrics, the event was not what I could call a success. The games' parent company, A Paradise Acquisition Corp., lost half their stock value overnight. As others have duly noted, you need more than a bunch of Olympic washouts and a vat of injectable testosterone to break world records. I put odds on the Enhanced Games returning next year at less than 50%.
PUBLISHED: 2026-05-26