The Steroid Olympics Are Coming
Good morning and welcome to another edition of Free Agent! Don’t forget to organize a Fight Club with your friendly neighborhood geopolitical rivals this week.
We’re talking about the Olympics today—not the real ones, the new Enhanced Games that allow athletes to use steroids (or not). Then we’ll move on to a new Netflix documentary on Brett Favre, followed by Formula 1’s Monaco dilemma and a wild story of a journalist getting banned in England.
Locker Room Links
- “Memorial Day is an underutilized sports holiday,” Matt Yoder writes at Awful Announcing, and he’s right. Seems like a no-brainer that every MLB team should be playing at 1 p.m. local time, perhaps with one big primetime Memorial Day extravaganza, complete with fireworks. Same goes for the Fourth of July and Labor Day.
- Plans for a presidential commission on college sports are paused while Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) works on federal legislation. (Good luck, Ted!)
- “What NASCAR Can Learn From Formula 1,” according to NASCAR driver William Byron.
- “The Indy 500 can run just fine without a tax break“
- Anyone else catch all the sports references on HBO’s The Last of Us? Catherine O’Hara’s character is apparently a Tigers fan, and a certain NFL stadium gets a big reveal too.
- Elsewhere in Reason, also by yours truly: “Should the
Civilization Video Games Be Fun—or Real?“
- The final scoreboard for ESPN’s Around the Horn:
After 23 years, today is the final @AroundtheHorn – episode 4,953 (5p ET, ESPN): https://t.co/WoTAQiSa6h@woodypaige tops the leaderboard w/ 688 wins & 2,964 appearances, while @TonyReali has hosted 4,525+ shows.
*Huge thanks to ATH stats guru/recordkeeper Caroline Willett pic.twitter.com/3WcxmnBvao
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) May 23, 2025
Olympians, But Enhanced
Some world records might soon fall.*
*But don’t expect to see them in the actual record books, not even with an asterisk. The first Enhanced Games are coming in May 2026, an Olympics-style event where athletes who are using performance-enhancing drugs are allowed to compete.
“Enhanced Games athletes will be allowed to take substances that are legal in the United States and prescribed by a licensed doctor,” reports ESPN’s Dan Murphy. “Examples may include testosterone, growth hormone and some types of anabolic steroids. Illicit drugs—cocaine, for example—will not be allowed.” (One wonders where the legally murky status of marijuana comes in.)
Athletes who aren’t taking performance-enhancing drugs are also allowed to compete, which could create an interesting contrast. So far there are only plans in place for short-distance swimming, track, and weightlifting events.
I’m sure the public is generally against professional athletes using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, hence the web of rules and testing in major sports leagues. But, as my Reason colleague Ronald Bailey has written, it’s still good for the Enhanced Games to show what athletes are capable of when science boosts them beyond the fullest of their natural abilities. Science is already changing athletic competitions in other ways, from faster running shoes to quicker swimsuits and analytics-inspired tactics.
Let enhanced competitions bloom, and let them compete for the public’s attention against nonenhanced events too. Dopin
Article from Reason.com
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.
