29 February 2024 , 14:00
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Seb Coe has labelled the 'Enhanced Games' as "b******s" - and warned any athletes moving to the bizarre drug-fuelled competition that they face a long ban from the professional side of the sport.
The president of World Athletics declared: "Well it's b******* isn't it, really. I mean, I can't really get excited about it. You know? There's only one message and that is if anybody is moronic enough to feel like they want to take part in that and they are from the tradition, philosophical end of our sport, they'll get banned.
"They'll get banned for a long time, so you know, I'm sure there are crazy things happening in other sectors. We occassionally get them. So I don't really get sleepless nights over it."
The former Olympic champion, speaking ahead of this weekend’s World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, damningly added: "It's not going to be a page turner is it."
The so-called Enhanced Games were launched eight months ago by Australian businessman Aron D'Souza, who acts as its president and are backed by PayPal founder Peter Thiel. They plan to stage the inaugural events, with no drug testing, in December, with five sports categories open to competitors.
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Track and field, swimming, weightlifting, gymnastics, and combat sports are all set to be included on the programme, with the competition to be held annually. D'Souza has claimed that the correct set-up of rigourously testing athletes was hurting athletics.
“The IOC (International Olympic Committee) has effectively been a one-party state running the world of sport for 100 years,” he told AAP when the Games were launched. “And now the opposition party is here. We are ready for a fight. I know they are going to play dirty. I know they are going to threaten us. But ultimately we know that we are morally correct.
“Athletes are adults ... and they have a right to do with their body what they wish - my body, my choice; your body, your choice. And no government, no paternalistic sports federation, should be making those decisions for athletes - particularly around products that are FDA regulated and approved.
Coe's comments come as athletics gears up for the Olympics in Paris this summer (Getty Images)“It’s not just a question of can we break the nine-second 100 metre, I am sure we will. I want to see a 40, 50, 60-year-old break world records. The reality is that the IOC and WADA have created an unsafe system which has forced the use of performance enhancements underground.”
A host city is still yet to be chosen, though the Enhanced Games website already bears a list of ‘enhanced world records’ which celebrates the achievements of athletes stripped of medals and records for doping. The list was accompanied by a message that hit out at drug-testing in sport.
“The IOC has committed itself to vilifying enhanced athletes,” it reads. “Each Olympiad, another cohort of brave athletes sets new world records, only to have their medals revoked, their careers suspended, and their names dragged through the mud. It is time to end this oppressive cycle. The Enhanced Games hereby reinstates the world records set by the following athletes and commends them for their bravery.”