2 days ago
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Most people in the sporting world have never heard of Aron D’Souza. He has just over 3,000 followers on Instagram, but among them are some particularly interesting names.
Take Fred Kerley, for example, the American 100metres runner who won bronze at Paris 2024. Kerley is one of a number of Olympians who have decided to follow the man behind the Enhanced Games.
Athletes from track, field and the pool are growing in curiosity about D’Souza. He is a 40-year-old Oxford University graduate who is offering life-changing pay cheques for a competition that has not just made doping legal, but actively encourages performance-enhancing drugs.
British swimmer Ben Proud, who won Olympic silver at Paris 2024, signed up this week as the first man from these shores. Proud is chasing a million-dollar jackpot for breaking the world record in the 50 metres freestyle in a competition in May next year.
It is an ethical minefield that blows up pre-conceived values of sporting competition, yet D’Souza is receiving more and more enquiries each day. There is no suggestion that Kerley or any of the others following D'Souza on social media will ever drop into that minefield, but plenty more have already.
‘Ben’s agent reached out to us,’ revealed D’Souza to Daily Mail Sport. ‘Why are swimmers are so interested in the Enhanced Games? It’s because swimming is one of the most participated events in the world, yet it’s basically impossible to make a living from competing in the sport, due to the dysfunction of World Aquatics.
Dr Aron D'Souza is the president of the Enhanced Games - where doping is not just legal but actively encouraged
Ben Proud (left) won silver for Team GB at Paris 2024. On Wednesday he became the first British athlete to join the Enhanced Games
‘There’s a domino effect. Every day, I get athletes reaching out to me on Instagram. After something like this, I’m sure we’ll have hundreds. Some total amateurs, some professional, some retired, some in the prime of the career.
'Where we’ve had our biggest reach is the United States, Australia and Britain. It’s becoming a safer proposition to join.’
Every relevant governing body has condemned the competition, citing health risks of steroid use and undermining fan trust. Centralised funding will be sacrificed but the project has alternative backing from investors in the world of science and technology. Donald Trump Jnr’s venture capital fund is among them.
‘We’re very proud to have Don Jnr and his team as investors,’ said D’Souza. ‘Intellectually, he’s very interested in what we do. The whole Trump movement is about questioning legacy institutions. The Olympic movement is this old monopoly and they were very excited about something new and different.
‘As human beings, we are hard wired to see the very best of human performance. The most important thing for us in the first Enhanced Games is to break lots of world records.
'If we have the best records in the pool and the best records on the track, will NBC pay billions of dollars to broadcast the Olympic Games? Will Nike and adidas play billions of dollars to sponsor?
'I don’t think so - because who wants to back and old, slow competition when you can back the new, faster competition? That’s the real seismic change that’s going to happen.
‘Our business model is completely different. We don’t rely on sponsorships, ticket sales and media rights like the Olympics do. We make our money by selling the drugs.
‘Our business model is completely different. We don’t rely on sponsorships, ticket sales and media rights like the Olympics do. We make our money by selling the drugs.'
The Enhanced Games has won investment funding from Donald Trump Jnr (left)
'We’re a pharmaceutical company and that’s ultimately a much bigger money earner. Our business model is a lot more like Red Bull, for example, that uses sports as marketing to sell an energy drink. We sell the drugs and we develop new drugs.’
For now, the focus is on individual sports, with more participants set to be announced ahead of May’s competition in Las Vegas.
The project has moved quickly, pulled together within two years, and there are plans to move into other sports within the next five years.
D’Souza played rugby at university and has set his sights on moving into the sport in future. It is, of course, a move that would be met with fierce resistance.
‘Rugby’s a sport that’s very deep in my heart,’ said D’Souza. ‘It’s a tough sport. It’s also a size sport. It’s one that really benefits from enhancements. Anabolic steroids help you build muscle mass and that’s a core skill of a rugby player.
‘My critique of the Olympic system has been two-fold; one of which is related to drugs and the other is about money. I’m acutely aware of the dysfunction in World Rugby and the national federations. It’s really disappointing - the sport doesn’t actually work that well.
‘On a financial level, for what is an exciting, team-based, participatory sport with a large grassroot following, the players really aren’t making that much money.
‘There are a lot of these ‘rebel leagues’ that are trying to start off, but getting to scale is really hard. We saw this with Grand Slam Track and ISL Swimming. We live in this attention economy and you have to get good attention.
In May, the Enhanced Games announced that Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev had broken the 50m world record at a private event in February - but did not disclose which drugs he used
Grand Slam Track attracted names such as Dina Asher-Smith (second left) and Gabby Thomas (second right) - but was late paying them and does not yet have funding for a second season
‘With Grand Slam Track, Michael Johnson, an American track superstar, launched it with $40million and only got six news articles when they launched. We’re doing something really different and it’s captivated the world’s imagination.
‘We’ve picked individual sports to start with. Eventually we aspire to take over the world of sport because we think all sport will want to be enhanced. I think there’s a lot of market opportunity for it. Three or four years. Things move quickly.’
Last year, World Athletics President Seb Coe dismissed the project as ‘absolute b******s’. Suddenly, the pie isn’t quite so high in the sky. The condemnation will continue. So too will the curiosity of athletes looking to make a quick buck, angry at governing bodies who have lost a grip of their own sports.
‘If anyone wants to question the ethics then I’m very happy to debate them in public, do a live stream on the Daily Mail,' said D'Souza, 'because we will win.
‘I’ve had this debate with senior officials from WADA, the IOC, top professionals. The scientific community is very supportive of what we’re doing.
'Ultimately it comes down to individuals with free and informed consent. Adults have the right to do with their bodies what they wish.’
