Leisel Jones, a three-time Olympic gold medal winner, supports athletes stepping up to the plate and accepting the money on offer in the proposed Enhanced Games, but she has one condition.
It comes after Australian swimming star James Magnussen announced he will take part in the Enhanced Games, a controversial competition where there will be no drug testing and athletes are encouraged to take drugs to perform.
He will begin a performance-enhancing supplement program in his quest to break the 50-meter world record and win $1.5 million after accepting a challenge from the founder of the Enhanced Games.
The Games were founded by Australian Aron D’Souza, who confirmed on Friday that he would guarantee the prize, although the event schedule has yet to be confirmed.
D’Souza launched his vision for the Enhance Games that would allow competitors to compete without drug testing, convinced that many of the world’s best athletes already use “performance enhancements.”
“It’s time to celebrate science safely,” reads the Enhance Games website.
“Sports can be safer without drug testing.”
Jones spoke about the proposed improved games on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Leisel Jones, Liam and Dobbo.
The Olympian said she would be interested to see how fast athletes can go, but wants the records to be kept separate.
Australian swimmer James Magnussen has become the first high-profile athlete to announce he will compete at the Enhanced Games.
While Jones, 38, is not in a position to compete in the Enhanced Games when and if they are held, she is intrigued to see how fast athletes can go when they are not subject to anti-doping regulations.
“I’m in two camps, I’ve always said it would be a wonderful idea to just see how fast people can go,” he said on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with Leisel Jones, Liam and Dobbo.
‘I don’t want to participate in it, I’m not in a position to do so. The risks are too great for me, I think, because of the side effects and so on.
‘If this removes people who really want to do that (take performance-enhancing drugs) and are doing illegal things in sport, if that removes them from our clean sport, that would be wonderful.
“Hopefully this will keep the sport clean.”
Jones, who won three Olympic gold medals, said the Enhanced Games would really help clean up traditional sports.
However, Jones’ caveat to supporting Enhanced Games is that established records would be kept separate from clean sport.
“But I don’t know what they’re going to do with world records after that,” he said.
“Keep that (world records) separate.”
But Jones wonders to what extent male swimmers will be able to improve their pool times by taking performance-enhancing supplements.
“He’s already very ripped, he’s already extremely muscular and lean, he doesn’t really need to gain too much size, so I don’t know if steroids are going to be that helpful, because you want to float as much as you can.” possible, the muscle weighs a lot and does not float very well. she said.
“They are beneficial for women because they can increase their testosterone and make them bigger and leaner.”
Magnussen will receive expert advice on his supplement program ahead of his Enhanced Games debut
Australian Aron D’Souza is the brain behind the Enhanced Games and wants them to be held in the near future
Magnussen, who retired from swimming in 2019 after winning Olympic and world championship medals, said he would research and undertake a supplement program that would allow him to pursue the record “safely and appropriately” and create “an athlete that we have not seen”. before’.
‘I thought it was an interesting concept when I first heard it… we are very aware as Olympic athletes in Australia that there is performance improvement going on in other countries. “Australia is well known for being one of the cleanest at the Olympic Games, if not the cleanest,” Magnussen said.
“But there is no level playing field internationally and we know it… I thought that for the right price it would be a very interesting activity.”
As for his supplement program, Magnussen said he would follow expert advice.
“I want to approach this the right way, I want to go to the United States, I want to get the right advice and take the right supplements,” he said.
‘I don’t know much about that world, so I want to do my research and have the right team behind me and, with Aron’s help, I would like to document it on video.
“Show how it can be done safely and properly and create an athlete we haven’t seen before.”