so performance enhancing drug use uh of course is something that comes up whenever you're talking about professional sports right for more than half a century it's been a topic there's now word that marijuana will be taken off the list of doping concerns or chemicals uh while organizers continue to crack down on doping one man has asked what's the big deal businessman Aaron de Souza launching a new kind of Olympic Games he's calling it uh the enhanced games for athletes who would otherwise be banned from International competition de Souza's enhanced games hope to launch in December
2024 with athletes competing in track and field swimming weight lifting gymnastics and Combat Sports I'm guessing that's going to be like the MMA stuff while de Souza says the idea is morally correct others including Global Olympic leaders have blasted this event as an unsafe joke and Aaron D'Souza president of the enhanced games is joining me right now hello Erin how are you I'm great thank you so much for having me on your show today I appreciate it what do you say to people though who think this is a gimmick it's absolutely not a gimmick we're
extremely serious I'm very proud of the Olympians who have signed up to our athletes Advisory Board including Olympians like Christine Smith uh Roland Shuman Brett Fraser they've really put their reputations on the line to back this bold and New Concept where we're embracing science and embracing social and technological change have you you heard from shikari Richardson the track sensation who was busted for using weed uh yes a tainted burrito I think was the phrase uh in that but uh yes you know it the the use of performance enhancements and support is Rife and the definition
of what is a performance enhancement is extremely subjective um cannabis is perfectly legal in many states of the United States now but it can get you banned from competing in the Olympic Games it's a complete farce but do you think that more and more athletes I mean you you have people confirmed you mentioned a long list there but do you think more and more athletes who can no longer compete are going to participate because they have the audience they have the following absolutely uh since we launched just five days ago we received over 100 inquiries
uh I just before I spoke with you today I've been speaking with an A Team USA uh medalist who is ready to compete for us uh and there's a huge interest in building a better version of the Olympics the Olympics have been broken for uh at least 20 years since Sydney 2000 uh corruption scandal after corruption Scandal and we're really looking forward to the opportunity to show the world that science is real and medicine can really make human beings better you describe the anti-steroid movement as being anti-science I hope I'm getting all these facts uh
correctly but the National Institutes of Health the Mayo Clinic the Cleveland Clinic the UK's National Health Service they all say anabolic steroids are addictive and that their use can cause a number of health issues heart attacks Strokes tumors kidney failures psychiatric problems why are you so passionate about this and why are you considering it anti-science well uh you know science is about um peer-reviewed evidence and unfortunately so much of the evidence that is uh presented about performance enhancing drugs has been funded by the world anti-doping Authority and the international Olympic Committee so it's not truly
objective scientific evidence and I'm pleased to say that the enhanced games is a world-class scientific Advisory Board including top academics from Harvard and Oxford University are very supportive of what we are doing would you call it inclusive say it again would you call your efforts inclusive I think our efforts are very fair uh currently at the Olympic Games uh and other International sporting events the use of enhancements is underground according to research published by the NIH 95 of NFL players have used anabolic steroids at some point in their career it's Rife among professional athletes so
wouldn't it be more fair to have an enhanced games on the one side and a natural slow boring Olympics on the other natural slow and boring Olympics oh my goodness Aaron what got you into this do you have a health background why is this so important to you you know I'm the kind of person who sees corruption and dysfunction in the world and decides to do something about it whether it's a pothole in the street or something as great as the Olympics and uh you know I came up with the idea of the enhanced games
because I sat down with a doctor in Los Angeles and actually an endocrinologist who's a bodybuilder who is a very active user of anabolic steroids and I spend time learning about the risks and the opportunities of performance medicine and it's true science is real longevity performance medicine is here and it can make a substantial impact on your life if there was a magic pill that made you younger that made you run faster for longer wouldn't you take it I think a lot of people would Aaron are you going to be competing in anything you look
young and limber well I'm 38 years old and uh I do hope to at least compete in one at one event uh it's a life and a lifelong dream of mine to be an elite athlete and nothing would be better to be there at the first enhanced games along with some of the best athletes in the world as we aim to obliterate all the world records thank you for watching go to newsnationnow.com to find news Nation on your television provider and don't forget to click the red subscribe button below to get more of news Nations
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