The Chinese Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) has on Friday denounced the Enhanced Games and called on the global sports community to collectively oppose the competition that endorses the use of banned substances.
The Enhanced Games are to debut in May next year in Las Vegas with swimming, athletics and weightlifting on the agenda for athletes using substances banned in official competition, to the dismay of anti-doping bodies such as the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Participants could earn prize money totaling up to US$500,000 per event, plus bonuses for surpassing a world record.
Photo: REUTERS
CHINADA denounced the event in a statement to Chinese state news agency Xinhua on Friday, calling it “a distorted competition that turns pure sports competition into a drug contest, which serious[ly] contradicts the purpose of the World Anti-Doping Code.”
“It severely threatens the physical and mental health of athletes as well as the spirit of sport. In addition, its publicity tactics reveal its nature as a capital-driven initiative,” it said.
“CHINADA hereby expresses our firm opposition to any attempt to portray doping as so-called scientific advancements, and calls on the global sports community to stand united in rejecting the Enhanced Games,” it added.
The Enhanced Games operate under the principle that banning performance-enhancing drugs in major competitions does not protect athletes, but rather stifles their performance. Organizers have called on athletes to join the competition.
However, CHINADA said the Enhanced Games organizers lure athletes with high prizes into risking their health and feeding public appetite for a “gladiator show.”
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