Donald Trump Jr’s investment firm 1789 Capital emerge as backers for Enhanced Games with no drug testing

Australia is proving a “fruitful realm” of athletes wanting to follow James Magnussen in competing at an event for drug-taking athletes.

Australian-born entrepreneur and Enhanced Games president Aron D’Souza expects more interest from Australian athletes in the wake of fresh financial backing from the Trump family.

Donald Trump Jnr is a partner in 1789 Capital which has been announced as new investors in Enhanced Games, a multi-sport event with no drug testing.

Australian swimmer Magnussen is the first athlete in the world to pledge to compete at the inaugural Enhanced Games, slated to be held this year.

Magnussen, 33, is coming out of retirement to compete with the prospect of claiming a $US1 million bonus if he breaks the men’s 50m freestyle world record.

“We stay in frequent contact with James, we look very much forward to seeing his progress and I know his training is going very well,” D’Souza told AAP on Friday.

“I cannot comment any more than that. He is swimming good in the pool from what I am told.”

D’Souza continues to field interest from athletes around the world wanting to join Magnussen at the first Enhanced Games - dates and a host US city will be announced soon.

“We have a great uptake among Australians ... we do get still excessively good engagement from Australian athletes and the Australian community,” he said.

“Australia, in particular in swimming, has a great swimming culture.

“And that is one of the three core sports of the games and where I think it’s actually the easiest to break the world record.

“So with Australia’s rich swimming culture, it has been a fruitful realm.

“It truly is, we have more athletes than we can actually engage with because ultimately we’re only looking at athletes at the very tip-top who have world record potential.”

D’Souza expects about 200 athletes to compete at the inaugural games featuring track and field, swimming, weightlifting, gymnastics and combat sports.

“It’s pretty amazing how many world class - world champion, Olympic medallist type athletes - which just email us almost every day because we’re offering something new,” he said.

“For a lot of athletes, James being an exception, they were afraid about their reputations, they didn’t want to be first.

“But now, with one of the greatest brand names in the world, the Trump name behind this project, it’s much easier for them to take that leap and join in.

“And as it becomes very tangible, as the deadline approaches for the first games, it’s going to be very easy to convert athletes because this isn’t the Olympics plus drugs, it’s the Olympics plus drugs and money. And financial incentives ... are very compelling.”

The Trump family’s financial support follows earlier funding commitments from, among others, billionaries Peter Thiel and Christian Angermayer and multi-millionaire Balaji Srinivasan.

“Because of the trust that has been placed in us by these extraordinary figures, and the expectation that the world has upon us in particular, the cultural change that we wish to deliver, we have to deliver an extraordinary event,” D’Souza said.

“We need to build truly the greatest sporting event in the history of the world.

“And not even the sporting event, a cultural event that inspires us to think about how human beings are transitioning to a new age, an age where we believe that our biology is no longer our limits.

“This is not just about letting athletes take drugs. This is about using science to increase human capabilities.”