Complete games promise to increase unregulated performance in sports. But what are the risks, ethics, and long-term health consequences?
I don’t think I’m the only one who enjoys watching sports. Grace, strength, courage and cunning are expressed in extraordinary and brilliant athletic actions. Our temporary fascination with these moments of inhuman slaughter may even allow us to associate with these exceptional athletes, a psychological state that Freud theorized as “our embrace of the superego.” This may, in part, explain our fascination with these seemingly wonderful people.
In 2026, all our doubts and ambivalence about sports achievements will be put to sleep. Enter the Complete Games, where athletes can juice themselves to the gills without permission and without being asked to tell us what they’re consuming. The plan is to host an Olympic event in Las Vegas in May 2026 where athletes who were once world champions could achieve Herculean status, although their achievements and world records, if achieved, would not be official.
The president of the International Association of Athletics Federations and former British athlete Lord Sebastian Coe called the enterprise “a load of balls”. Other experts, citing Coe’s views, have called it a “Roman circus”, while the World Anti-Doping Agency has described Enhanced Games as “dangerous and irresponsible”. While speculation is rife about the honesty of athletes who claim to be clean, organizers of the games say their participants will be medically monitored and performance-enhancing drugs will be used safely. They even go a step further and say that we can learn from what they do and use their formulas to live happier, healthier, and maybe even longer lives.
When I first entered the anti-aging arena, the founders of this movement recognized Olympians and bodybuilders as the forerunners of the longevity landscape who were certainly taking all forms of unnatural medicine ahead of their time.
In addition to the enhanced Games as a spectacle, organizers hope to evaluate athletes in clinical trials that evaluate the effects of performance-enhancing drugs on athletic performance. Combined with blood tests and a battery of assessments, including brain, cardiovascular and bone health, they say this can give us important information that may even allow us to live healthier and longer lives.
Until we can determine what they consume, here is a list of some ingredients that can be in smoothies, along with scientific evidence that shows their potential benefits and harms.
Anabolic steroids
These remain the most popular boosters in the medicine cabinet, and despite their ability to pump and strengthen muscles, there is concrete evidence that they actually improve athletic performance. Then a laundry list of side effects, including negative effects on cholesterol profiles, heart and liver, and most worryingly, their tendency to increase red blood cells, which can increase the risk of developing heart attack and stroke.
Selective androgen receptor modulators
Athletes take these because they are looking for the muscle building effects of steroids without the possible side effects. Like anabolic steroids, they promote muscle growth, but they can enlarge the kidneys, liver, and prostate, and are harmful to the heart.
Growth hormone
Although growth hormones build muscle, they do not translate into any performance gains in terms of speed, strength, or endurance. Side effects are numerous and include joint pain, soft tissue swelling, carpal tunnel syndrome, and adverse cardiac effects.
Erythropoietin
Lance Armstrong is famous for having red blood cells that deliver more oxygen to the tissues, but there is little evidence to show that performance is improved. Having too many red blood cells makes the blood thicker and increases the risk of stroke.
Stimulants
Stimulants such as phenethylamines, caffeine, and methamphetamines can improve cognitive and physical stamina, but at a cost.
Peptides
Peptides such as growth hormones have been used by athletes because they are difficult to detect.
Gen doping
Now that we can modify our DNA, gene editing can certainly be introduced to produce extraordinary humans. This can go very wrong if we engineer athletes with excessive amounts of hormones that turbocharge their performance while dramatically increasing the risks associated with increased hormone levels. Contains a unique combination of natural substances, including nitrates found in beetroot juice, pomegranate extract, green leafy vegetables and collagen peptides.
For those who want a chemical makeover, the Enhanced Games attempt to release the super athlete from the cage, a prototype that we can copy at our peril.
