#sports-doping

#sports-doping

The pitch for the Enhanced Games (TEG) was that allowing athletes to dope as much as they wanted would facilitate the mass shattering of putatively clean world records, proving in the process that human physiology and talent were ultimately less important for athletic performance than pharmacological enhancement. Is an athlete a body or are they the sum of their inputs? In an attempt to prove the latter, TEG attracted a decent crop of Olympic-level athletes in pure performance sports (i.e. nothing with a skill element, which you can't dope your way into), thanks to a massive prize pool and the support of investors like Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr.

Founded by Australian businessman Aron D'Souza, the competition allows athletes to perform without conventional anti-doping rules. Substances must be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and taken under medical supervision. But otherwise, it's up to the athletes.

As the world now knows, being well endowed is a distinct advantage for the simple key reason that when a jumper spreads their legs the crotch of their trousers stretches out into a wing, and the bigger that wing is, the further they're likely to fly. Computer analysis suggests they get an extra 2.8 metres of distance for every extra centimetre of fabric.

The prescription testosterone market in the United States is substantial and growing, with more than 5 million prescriptions written annually and an estimated $1 billion in sales. More striking still is the booming self- medication with testosterone supplements. Testosterone "boosters"-often herbal or vitamin‑based products-represent a $3.7 billion global market projected to nearly double by 2030.This means there are 3 million users in the United States, and epidemiologic studies suggest up to 30 percent of long-term AAS users may develop addiction,