Sports On Steroids? Peter Thiel Invests In 'Doping-Friendly' Olympics Rival 'Enhanced Games'

Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of PayPal, has made a significant investment in a sports competition that openly embraces the use of performance-enhancing drugs. This move has sparked a major debate on the potential risks to athletes’ health and the integrity of the sport.

What Happened: Thiel recently disclosed his involvement in a “multi-million dollar” seed round for the Enhanced Games. This privately funded sports event bills itself as the “Olympics of the future,” as reported by Forbes on Friday. The games will not conduct drug tests, citing their embrace of science in sports and their commitment to being the “safest international sporting event in history.”

Thiel is joined by other high-profile investors, including Balaji Srinivasan, a cryptocurrency investor, and Christian Angermayer, a biotech investor. The games will focus on individual sports, with events in five core categories: athletics, aquatics, combat, gymnastics, and strength.

The Enhanced Games also aim to be the most inclusive sports league in history, welcoming all adults to compete, regardless of their natural, adaptive, or enhanced status. The registration for the games will open in late 2024, with the precise dates yet to be announced.

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Why It Matters: The Enhanced Games’ stance on doping directly contradicts the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) position. In August, WADA’s panel concluded that marijuana use by athletes violates the “spirit of sport” and decided to keep it on the prohibited list. This decision was made after reviewing evidence on marijuana use by athletes.

Thiel’s investment in the Enhanced Games also follows a series of controversial doping incidents in international sports. In February 2022, American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was banned from the Olympics after testing positive for cannabis, while Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was allowed to compete despite a similar offense. This sparked a debate about double standards and racism in doping sanctions.

Valieva was later banned in January 2024 from competing internationally for four years for anti-doping violations at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

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