The Enhanced Games is far more than it appears to be on the surface, with organisers admitting it has very little to do with sporting accolades and more to do with turning regular Joes into Greek gods.

Enhanced founder Aron D’Souza says that the aim of the Enhanced Games is “not to build a sporting event” but to kickstart “the tenth age of mankind” as part of an elaborate marketing play to create a Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) telehealth and supplement empire.

The fact is it has very little to do with sport at all, with its chief purpose to take performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) mainstream.

The Games website states that they are challenging traditional models of sport by embracing science, innovation, and measurable performance enhancement under regulated conditions.

Yet what it truly wants is for the exposure from the Games to result in people rushing to purchase its supplements, testosterone and peptides – many of which aren’t yet approved by the FDA and other food and drug regulatory bodies around the world.

That aim is not being hidden by Enhanced either, it is simply being masked over by athletes posting promotional content looking like they are more likely to compete in bodybuilding contests rather than races.

The inaugural Enhanced Games, which is being referred to as the ‘Steroid Olympics’, has cost organisers upwards of $50 million, with costs ranging from the construction of a custom 2,500-seat arena at Resorts World Las Vegas to the stipends paid to the 42 athletes competing.

Then there’s the exorbitant prize money on offer for athletes to compete and the additional funds for those who break a world record.

In each swimming event, there are four competitors, with first place getting approximately $350,000, then $175,000 for second, $105,000 and $70,000 for third and fourth.

If an athlete breaks a world record, there is an additional bonus ranging from $1.4m ($1m USD) to $350,000 ($250k USD).

In the case of Aussie James Magnussen, if he breaks the world record in the 50m event, he will receive a $1.4m bonus, but if he does so in the 100m, he will only get a $350,000 bonus.

So theoretically, if he wins both the 50m and 100m events and breaks the world record in both, he will pocket close to $2.5m.

So how are the Games making money, you may ask? Well it isn’t from media rights and ticketing that’s for sure, as the event can be streamed on YouTube, and all 2,500 tickets were given out for free.

The entire event will cost tens of millions, and only peanuts will be recouped during the event.

However, the reality is that the investors never planned to profit from the event itself, instead, they are banking on a potentially far more lucrative business opportunity.

Investors are gambling on it becoming an avenue into introducing steroids to the public, not for the purpose of turning ordinary civilians into Olympic-level athletes, but in a bid to sell the benefits of longevity and health.

D’Souza has said as much on numerous occasions, labelling this the start of the “Enhanced Age”.

He believes embracing performance medicine “will enable humans across the world, across income spectrums, to have longer, healthier, happier lives”, according to the ABC.

D’Souza states that ageing is “a disease that we should be able to treat, cure, and eventually....