As the countdown to the controversial Enhanced Games continues, two of the world’s most prominent anti-doping figures have reignited their long-running feud, overshadowing what should be a unified global front against drug use in sport.
Both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency agree on one thing: the Enhanced Games, a privately backed competition that promotes the use of performance-enhancing drugs, must not go ahead. But rather than present a united front, WADA President Witold Banka and USADA Chief Executive Travis Tygart have again turned their attention to each other, reviving personal tensions that have simmered for years.
Speaking at the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations meeting in Lausanne, Banka condemned the Enhanced Games in the strongest terms, calling the project an attempt to normalise dangerous drug use and branding it a threat to athlete welfare and the integrity of sport. He urged United States authorities to explore legal avenues to block the event, warning it would be embarrassing if such a spectacle were allowed to proceed in the lead-up to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“This initiative seeks to normalise the use of potentially dangerous drugs,” said Banka. “For the sake of athlete health and the purity of sport, of course, it must be stopped.”
But Banka did not stop there. He took the opportunity to aim another public jab at Tygart, with whom he shares a combative history. Calling for American intervention, Banka implied that USADA must do more, saying there was a strong role to be played by the national body and questioned whether doctors who prescribe potent drugs to healthy athletes would be acting within the law.
Tygart’s response was swift and characteristically blunt. In comments sent to Agence France-Presse, he accused Banka of misunderstanding democratic systems and using the Enhanced Games as a distraction from WADA’s governance issues. He further challenged Banka to attend a United States Senate hearing next week, where lawmakers will examine several WADA-related controversies, including the handling of positive tests involving Chinese swimmers in 2021.
“If he really wants to ask United States authorities to do something, he should show up and ask the Senate to do something,” said Tygart, who added that Banka’s indignation equals his misinformation or ignorance about how free democratic societies and markets work.
Tygart has previously labelled the Enhanced Games a clown show, while Banka has called them shameful, immoral and irresponsible. Despite agreeing on the underlying threat posed by the proposed event, their animosity continues to cloud the conversation.
The Enhanced Games, spearheaded by Australian lawyer Aron D’Souza, are heavily financed by figures including Donald Trump Junior and billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel. The event claims to be a revolutionary alternative to the Olympic model, openly allowing athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs under the supervision of medical professionals. D’Souza argues the system is designed to embrace scientific progress and address what he claims is a broken anti-doping regime, citing a study that found 44 per cent of elite athletes admitted to doping while just one per cent were caught.
Yet the backlash has been fierce, and it is growing. Banka insists authorities in the United States should look seriously at whether the event, set for Las Vegas in May 2026, is legally viable. Questions remain about the medical ethics and legality of prescribing enhancement drugs to athletes in the absence of clinical need.
While both WADA and USADA view the Enhanced Games as a threat, their fractured relationship continues to undermine coordinated action. Six months ago, with tensions briefly cooled following the awarding of the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City, there had been hope for more cooperation. That truce now appears short-lived, with rhetoric once again heating up on both sides.
As the Enhanced Games ramp up media and sponsor outreach, the global anti-doping fight is being pulled in two directions, one toward collaboration and the other back into conflict.
