A warning shot for the IOC

The fear is spreading. Real. It is noticeable. Now, although apart from a few words, announcements to be precise, nothing has happened yet. It is the fear of a change after which nothing could be as it once was. As we know it. A few billionaires have declared war on established sport. “Enhanced Games” is the bad word that comes across as seductively as a box of chocolates that promises enjoyment without regret. “Advanced Games”.

There is already a president of this association (Aron Ping D'Souza) and also financially strong supporters. Next year we should start with limitless sport, which will increasingly be defined by new records. One million dollars will be awarded for world records in various core sports such as athletics, swimming or strength training. That sounds understandably tempting. But that alone isn't particularly dramatic, because it's not like such sums are now completely out of the world. Prize money in football, tennis and golf has long since reached these dimensions. The sports world and its institutions shouldn't be nervous about this financial announcement yet. It is the word “limitless” that is as frightening as an evil shadow that could have an all-destroying force.

The IOC around President Thomas Bach has been warned. © ANSA / TERESA SUAREZ

The originators of these special games mean that you can tackle possible best performances and records using all available resources. There should deliberately be no more doping controls. Yes, quite the opposite: the chemists of the world are called upon to turn all the test tubes around once again in order to develop the most effective means of increasing performance. Apart from those that we have long known and that were happily used in the past, which is why the World Doping Agency (WADA) can hardly keep up with its controls. Because it has always been and is still about “fair play”, about sporting conflicts under as equal conditions as possible, even if that is ultimately impossible given the aspect of social differences.

The postman brings the pills But now it's no longer the doping controllers who should ring the doorbell of the athletes to ask them to be tested, but rather the parcel delivery person with the latest products to improve performance. This is practically part of the concept of “Enhanced Games”. Aron Ping D'Souza explained it like this: "We are reinventing sport from the ground up, unencumbered by anachronistic legacy systems." Even if the Australian doesn't say it, it is clearly an attack on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and all associated sports associations. And perhaps also to the basic ethical and moral values of our sporting world, which have long since become a Sisyphean task to defend.

The Olympic Games are getting competition. © KEYSTONE / LAURENT GILLIERON

I know the discussions between those who support doping release and those who strictly reject it. Fortunately, the second group has held its own so far, also with the understandable and unbeatable argument that you have to be a role model for the next generation and that doping is - demonstrably - dangerous to your health. However, we shouldn't wander through the sports world dreaming either. There will always be attempts to gain advantages through unfair means. The IOC basically opened the exhibition with the words “Citius, altius, fortius” (faster, higher, stronger), coined in 1894 by Michael Breál, a classical philologist, and first used at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris . Maybe it's finally time for the world's largest private sports association to make a change by offering prize money and bonuses and also curb the continued expansion of sports for the Games.

The pressure that some billionaires exert with their visions, whatever you want to value them, must trigger reactions. And we, the consumers, also have to take a clear stand. Do we want to see chemically engineered monsters at the start or do we still want to be able to identify with the athletes and somehow still believe that everything is going well? Despite some reservations, I am still in favor of the latter option, although I cannot shake the fear that this time the sporting world could be massively changed thanks to large sources of money. And not for their benefit.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist (including winner of the German Television Prize and the Bavarian Sports Prize), book author and Eurosport commentator from the very beginning (since 1989) dedicates his column “Sigi's Spitze” to the entire diversity of sport and also enjoys poaching in foreign realms. Sometimes with a smile and a wink, sometimes serious and thoughtful or deliberately provocative. There should be something for everyone.

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A warning shot for the IOC

The announcement by some billionaires that they are organizing an alternative to the classic Olympic Games with gigantic prize money and no doping controls is giving our columnist Sigi Heinrich a lot of headaches.

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