Reactionary billionaire megadonor and Palantir founder Peter Thiel is a key investor in the Enhanced Games—an Olympics alternative that eschews drug testing in favor of promoting it.
And a subset of internet users—crypto-hyping, bio-optimizing, Elon Musk-hyping sycophants—just finding out about it are digging the idea.
A New York Post story about Thiel’s investment in the game, which he said was in the “high single-digit millions” set off the latest round of discussion about the unconventional event.
“Baseball steroid era was the best era. I dig this,” posted @TikTokInvestors on X. From around the late 1980s until the early 2000s, many high-profile stars were suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), including steroids. Some of the players suspected of using the drugs, like Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds, smashed through long-standing home run records.
Others, like Jose Canseco, who wrote an infamous autobiography about the period called ‘Juiced,’ detailed just how many players were using the drugs at the time.
Hypercharged performance from PED shoveling was cited by a variety of reactionary posters sharing a penchant for biohacking, cryptoshilling, and other forms of tech, finance, and mindset optimization, all of whom were excited by the idea.
“I would love to see this. Steroids get a bad rap,” wrote @biterror_eth. “Out of all the athletes that use these ‘dangerous; drugs where are the bodies? Juice em’ up and let them rip.”
But the idea that steroids and other PEDs are harmless didn’t sit well with everybody.
“They die from enlarged hearts etc at age 40, long after their prime so you don’t hear about them,” replied @JGreenriver.
Enhanced Games is a project led by Aron D’Souza, an Australian lawyer who rose to prominence after he quarterbacked Thiel’s legal battle against Gawker Media. Thiel, who called the publication a “Manhattan-Based Terrorist Organization,” financed a lawsuit to the tune of $10 million against Gawker on behalf of Hulk Hogan after they published a sex tape featuring the wrestler.
Other public investors in the game include Balaji Srinivasan, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who used to be a General Partner at the powerful Andreessen Horowitz firm, and Christian Angermayer, who’s invested in a variety of biopharmaceutical startups.
“The Enhanced Games … [are] the world’s 1st sporting event where performance enhancements are not just forbidden, but actively endorsed. Let’s celebrate what the human body can do with the help of science,” Angermayer said after launching the games.
The idea that the games might be a testing ground for human enhancement was another theme that posters hit on.
“First step in genetic engineering,” posted @empireenjoyer10 in reaction to the Post story.
“YES! I’ve been waiting for this to happen. We have to have super human on earth now. So let’s see them compete!” celebrated @AdamLocklin.
Others didn’t really care about the consequences or potential benefits—they were just excited about the entertainment juicing athletes out of their gills would cook up.
“People that say drugs are bad, whatever,” said @ibeatsystems. “Some drugs can make some people super human in certain things and as long as it’s their own decision (everyone that participates) and it doesn’t harm any others, it should be allowed. This will be cool to see.”
“Roids should be mandatory for professional sports,” added @TheBrennanCo. “If I have to pay $300 for nose bleed losing team nfl home game tickets I deserve to watch the best athletes science can produce,” added another.
