Georgie Parker: I’m not a fan of The Enhanced Games but I also know they’re inevitable

The Enhanced Games are on the horizon, and let’s be honest, this was always going to be a matter of not if, but when they would happen.

It’s now been backed by billionaires (shocking) and looks to be here before we know it with retired swimmer, James Magnussen, confirming he has been offered a mega contract to push for a world record.

Here’s my unpopular opinion, world records weren’t made to be broken. Well, not often anyway. If they do, where do we find our once-in-a-generation athlete to come and blow out minds? Where’s our Usain Bolt or our Michael Phelps if it’s easy to become one?

Isn’t Leon Marchand breaking Phelps’ individual medley world record 15 years after it was set much more exciting than records being broken meet after meet?

Or the fact that even Usain Bolt himself couldn’t break his own 100m world record of 9.58 seconds, after setting it in 2009? Call me old-fashioned, but I like hard work being rewarded, and I like superstars to be rare.

Firstly, let’s ignore the potential legal battles that will inevitably come from athletes and families at some point. Using either unknown substances we don’t yet know enough about, or using drugs that are known to enhance your athletic output, sure, but have side effects of things such as heart and liver failure is fraught with danger.

Just do some quick research on bodybuilders prematurely dying and you might see a worrying trend of where this could potentially go. So safety aside, what do we think of it?

Is it exciting? Potentially…? Yes…? I’m not sure. I mean, I was super invested in Eliud Kipchoge’s mission to break the two-hour marathon, but that (from what we know) didn’t involve performance-enhancing drugs.

That involved science, precision and pin-point perfection from sports scientists and it was insanely exciting to see what a human could push their body to do. Would this maybe be the same? I’m not sure.

The Enhanced Games boldly declares they have an athlete who has “broken Usain Bolt’s 100m record multiple times”. They say he has been vilified and the Olympics hate him, but they plan on vindicating him.

Well, my take on that is, no he hasn’t. If I had an e-bike I might beat Anna Meares round the track too! You can’t break the record if you’re playing by different rules, and he hasn’t played by the same rules as Usain.

His world records would be new records for their own little dangerous game that they’re playing, not what is currently standing. And that’s okay, but it’s comparing apples and oranges.

This is a really complex topic. I understand there is a push for body autonomy, but also worry about the extent of what people will do in pursuit of what they believe is greatness.

Athletes are already pin cushions for science, and this is, I guess, just another arm of that. It doesn’t sit well with me as an athlete purist, but neither did LIV Golf, but I still understood why people gave that a go.

Money talks, and combine that with ego and it’s an unmatchable power and let’s be honest, athletes’ egos can be some of the biggest going around.

Ultimately, I think my opinion on this is I don’t like it, but I know its going to happen eventually, and I probably will watch it. I’ll watch it however through jaded eyes, and sadness that we never seem satisfied with what is in front of us.

Progression is always welcome, and always needed in the world, society and sport, but it would be a real shame if we missed out on actually seeing what potential generational athletes can do, all in the name of a few bucks.

Before we become Olympians, and before we partake in whatever event, sport or disciple we have trained years for, this is the oath we, as athletes, recite: “In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams.”

I guess every Olympics most athletes do, and some athletes don’t. At least now those who don’t can go elsewhere, and the Olympics can remain as the pinnacle.