"I am an applied sport science researcher who regularly conducts research in elite athletes. I believe the enhanced games presents a genuinely interesting scientific experiment. Removing the constraints of prohibited substances that are currently banned from most elite sporting competitions would allow us to observe true human performance ceilings which would be scientifically valuable. We possibly already see elite athletes privately pushing these boundaries, so there's an argument for complete transparency around this. Nonetheless, there are a few concerns surrounding the enhanced games.

Firstly, safety is a concern whereby dose-response relationships for various compounds are poorly characterised so without data supporting the safety of the substances that enhances athletes are likely taking we can’t be sure there would not be health risks. Secondly, the exposure that the enhanced games will likely have may further normalise substance use whereby the use of these substances in recreational fitness communities has rapidly spiked in recent years. I think the scientific interest in the enhanced games is compelling, the athlete autonomy argument is justifiable, but the foundation of the event is relatively unstable and the execution will be challenging."

"The Enhanced Games that allow athletes to compete with pharmacological freedom are a dangerous stunt with no place as a sporting event. Many performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) allowed in the enhanced games have serious adverse health effects that could ultimately lead to death. Competitors in the Enhanced Games are at serious risk of psychological (addiction, psychosis, aggression, mood swings) and physiological (high blood pressure, abnormal dangerous heart growth, kidney and liver damage and failure, muscle strain and ruptures) harm.

Sanctioning and encouraging competitors in a pharmacological free-for-all directly encourages risk-taking without a safety net. Competitors will almost certainly go beyond typical anabolic steroids, stimulants and blood doping and attempt untried, untested and unsafe peptides and other therapies. Removal of barriers to PEDs also removes one of the fundamental tenets of sport – the demonstration of fair play. The Enhanced Games are pure circus and not sport."

"The Enhanced Games are a unique opportunity to see how illegal methods and substances can impact sports performance. In reality, we don’t truly know the effects of many of these illegal substances and methods on exercise performance because they typically have been banned from use in sport, and therefore, research interest and viability to study them are reduced. While most sports viewers are used to seeing fairly equal athletes competing against each other, what they will see at the Enhanced Games is a quite diverse set of athletes with diverse preparations, because these aren’t a nice equal group of world finalists in their sports, there is some medal quality athletes competing against elite but much lower ranked athletes, and that alone will likely create diversity in results and a poor viewing experience.

Beyond the games, because we don’t know much about the use of many of these substances in athletes in isolation, never mind in combinations, we don’t know the impact on performance or health. Many aren’t against the idea of the games, but offering athletes, many of whom have low incomes from sport, is akin to luring lower socio-economic groups to participate in research for money – it’s truly unethical by any standards."

“The idea behind the Enhanced Games is intriguing. People love to watch events like the Olympic Games to see humans test the limits of their abilities, and this takes that idea one step further. People have been using substances to enhance their athletic abilities for millennia, and this is no different.

The Enhanced Games is a spectacle, and I believe most people will be able to see them for what they are. There is some concern – rightfully – that this may expose people to messages that taking substances for enhancement purposes is safe or legitimate, and again, I think most people will be able to discern that this is not necessarily the case. Social media is rife with messages about substance use for enhancement or replacement purposes, and we should be more concerned with that.”