My advice as a former PR professional would be for these governing bodies to just totally ignore the Enhanced Games. Why in the hell is it any of your business what a retired athlete is doing in their free time? By talking about it for paragraphs on end, you are just giving them publicity. Just ignore them.
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My advice as a former PR professional would be for these governing bodies to just totally ignore the Enhanced Games. Why in the hell is it any of your business what a retired athlete is doing in their free time? By talking about it for paragraphs on end, you are just giving them publicity. Just ignore them.
At least the Enhanced Games are transparent about doping. I see them as a non-hypocritical version of the Olympics. Paradoxically, it might be a good thing if the Enhanced Games gain momemtum, media coverage and sponsorship because the dopers who compete in the Olympics will ultimately have an incentive to move to the Enhanced Games which will make the Olympics cleaner.
My advice as a former PR professional would be for these governing bodies to just totally ignore the Enhanced Games. Why in the hell is it any of your business what a retired athlete is doing in their free time? By talking about it for paragraphs on end, you are just giving them publicity. Just ignore them.
Rojo, I agree with you - but also (as another UK runner), the flip side of this is that UK Athletics are also desperate for publicity. This gets them in the media spotlight too. So I can see exactly why they publicly commented.
It's a win win win scenario for the retired Reece.
At minimum, he makes quite a few extra bucks.
At best, he runs 9.7 - 9.8, and can then use that to claim that his 9.93 was clean.
At worst, he runs slower than before, and will then say it's too hard to come back out of retirement. Nothing to lose!
Speaking of sprinting, I would be more excited to see currently banned, still young stars compete, like Asinga and Knighton. OK Kerley has signed up, but he's already 30, and will be 31 in May 2026.
But for Asinga and Knighton, the $$$ considerations are different, as they could reasonably mount a comeback in 2027 (Asinga, then age 22) and 2029 (Knighton, then age 24).
Of course, on the distance side, the possibilities of in-shape banned stars are endless, from Kandie + Kipruto to Chepngetich, but the Enhanced Games don't seem to be that interested in longer events.
Sprinter Reece Prescod is out for his just desserts after kicking the puddings and pastries ahead of the Olympics.
The 25-year-old is aiming for success in Japan having piled on the pounds thanks to his sweet tooth.
Prescod was a stone overweight at last month’s British trials [...].
He has now shed the weight having quit America after a brief stay training under renowned coach Mike Holloway and is ready to run in Tokyo.
“I don’t know if it was American food or if I love Deliveroo too much,” said the European silver medallist, who is fourth in Britain’s all-time 100m rankings.
“It’s just very convenient sometimes. I can do meal prep but when Deliveroo gets in my hand…and where I live by Canary Wharf you’ve got Joe And The Juice in the morning, Pret, then you come back for lunch time, there’s a Nando’s, there’s GBK.
“Daryll (Neita) is one of my close friends as well and her family have an amazing Caribbean restaurant, so I could just do that.
“Then I jump on Call of Duty with the boys, and then we’re eating, a little snack break, and instead of having a fruit salad, I might order from Cake and Custard Factory.
“Before you know it, it’s a jam tart, a pink icing cake with some custard, and then I’ve ordered two and an Appletiser and then I go to bed.
“You’ve done that for a week and it just ends up going on. This holding camp I need to stick to the fruit salads, the water, chicken and ease up a little bit. There will be no Cake and Custard Factory and all that stuff. It’s not good.
“I was 87kg. My race weight is normally 79-80kg. I don’t know if I spent too much time in the gym doing rehab or just smashing upper body too much and eating a bit too much food.
“It was just happy food. I’m 83kg right now so I’ve gone down a little bit and I’m not going to have lunch the next few days.”
My advice as a former PR professional would be for these governing bodies to just totally ignore the Enhanced Games. Why in the hell is it any of your business what a retired athlete is doing in their free time? By talking about it for paragraphs on end, you are just giving them publicity. Just ignore them.
The Incredible Bulk. Some mighty fine cake mixture you got there Mike!
Trunk is involved in all this Enhanced Games so we know what its about, and why he's really hated. He, and whoever backs him, was laying ruins to our fake leaders, fake institutions. All these professional bsers on the gravy train, and signing deals in smoky rooms. While being a bunch of two faced liars.
I don't really care who's cheating beyond feeling a little sorry for those that don't and naively think it's a fair fight. PED'S SHOULDN'T BE AGAINST THE RULES ON PRINCIPLE. The only reason they are is Mommy and Daddy won't by Nike gear if Little Johnny's heroes are all on drugs!! And Nike, and family, getting stinking rich while dumb nations get saddled with all the debt is what sport is really for!
The world is run by sociopaths. Do, and say, whatever it takes. Just read your fav sociopath bible, like Carnegie, and get it on baby!
It's rich for UK Athletics in particular to go off on people trying to make ends meet by taking the enhanced games check. UK Athletics, the organization that
The outcry over the “disgusting” Olympic selection policy of UK Athletics has escalated after a leading young athlete accused the governing body of robbing her of a place in Paris and driving people away from the sport.
, is really rich. I mean if you know you'll never get the chance to have an Isaac Nader moment because your national federation is run by a bunch of dolts who don't understand that the greatness of the sport is anyone can have a career day when it matters most, and if you know that the payoff for all the training and sacrifice will never come because your national selection process is run by a group of people with their collective heads up their collective a***es, then why wouldn't you take the best payday offered? Worse, some field event throwers even offered to pay their own travel costs to Paris or Tokyo and UK Athletics still told them they couldn't go and didn't send a team. But that gave them an idea and now they're trying to charge people
Distance runner Ben Connor says he is declining his selection by Great Britain for the European Road Running Championships after being asked to pay to compete.
. If UK Athletics doesn't want people in the enhanced games, then maybe they should consider taking every single British athlete who qualified for a world championship or Olympics in their event to said world championship at the expense of UK Athletics. If you don't do that, you can't blame British Athletes for trying to make a buck.
Speaking of sprinting, I would be more excited to see currently banned, still young stars compete, like Asinga and Knighton. OK Kerley has signed up, but he's already 30, and will be 31 in May 2026.
But for Asinga and Knighton, the $ considerations are different, as they could reasonably mount a comeback in 2027 (Asinga, then age 22) and 2029 (Knighton, then age 24).
Of course, on the distance side, the possibilities of in-shape banned stars are endless, from Kandie + Kipruto to Chepngetich, but the Enhanced Games don't seem to be that interested in longer events.
athletes still get tested whilst serving bans, if they dope for the enhanced games and are then also tested and popped (again) by WADA, their existing ban will be extended/a new one given to them
if they want to do the enhanced games, they will feasibly have to entirely turn their backs on a proper (clean) athletics career
Speaking of sprinting, I would be more excited to see currently banned, still young stars compete, like Asinga and Knighton. OK Kerley has signed up, but he's already 30, and will be 31 in May 2026.
But for Asinga and Knighton, the $ considerations are different, as they could reasonably mount a comeback in 2027 (Asinga, then age 22) and 2029 (Knighton, then age 24).
Of course, on the distance side, the possibilities of in-shape banned stars are endless, from Kandie + Kipruto to Chepngetich, but the Enhanced Games don't seem to be that interested in longer events.
athletes still get tested whilst serving bans, if they dope for the enhanced games and are then also tested and popped (again) by WADA, their existing ban will be extended/a new one given to them
if they want to do the enhanced games, they will feasibly have to entirely turn their backs on a proper (clean) athletics career
Yes indeed. That's what I meant with the "$ considerations are different" for the athletes in their early 20s, as they'd miss out on half of their career if joining the Enhanced Games (and go all out with PEDs).
Actually, theoretically they could maybe "retire" now, to pause the ban and the testing, and then rejoin the pool a few months after the Enhanced Games (to restart the ban and the testing). Then they would only lose an additional year, and not receive another ban.
However, Reece already retired, and Kerley is already 30 and just started his ban, so their decision to join the Enhanced Games will result in a financial gain for both.
It's rich for UK Athletics in particular to go off on people trying to make ends meet by taking the enhanced games check. UK Athletics, the organization that , is really rich. I mean if you know you'll never get the chance to have an Isaac Nader moment because your national federation is run by a bunch of dolts who don't understand that the greatness of the sport is anyone can have a career day when it matters most, and if you know that the payoff for all the training and sacrifice will never come because your national selection process is run by a group of people with their collective heads up their collective a***es, then why wouldn't you take the best payday offered? Worse, some field event throwers even offered to pay their own travel costs to Paris or Tokyo and UK Athletics still told them they couldn't go and didn't send a team. But that gave them an idea and now they're trying to charge people . If UK Athletics doesn't want people in the enhanced games, then maybe they should consider taking every single British athlete who qualified for a world championship or Olympics in their event to said world championship at the expense of UK Athletics. If you don't do that, you can't blame British Athletes for trying to make a buck.
^this^ UK athletics did not field full teams and did not allow athletes to compete in Olympics even though they qualified.
Not sure if Prescod was one of those not allowed to compete, but even if he wasn't he likely sympathizes with those forced to stay home.
So you can't blame him for signing up for what may be a global event with good coverage as that competition will allow him to compete. No guarantee the UK would otherwise do the same for him in the future.
He should wear his old UK kit in the enhanced games. Unless he has a better sponsorship deal why not? UK Athletics will probably never do anything for him again, so he does not have to worry about any potential problems from doing that. He should be proud of his past achievements that allowed him to wear that kit, and proud as a current athlete from the UK in this different type of competition.
Are the enhanced games going to track the medal count achieved by athletes from various nations? It would be interesting to know which nations have the best enhanced athletes.
It's rich for UK Athletics in particular to go off on people trying to make ends meet by taking the enhanced games check. UK Athletics, the organization that , is really rich. I mean if you know you'll never get the chance to have an Isaac Nader moment because your national federation is run by a bunch of dolts who don't understand that the greatness of the sport is anyone can have a career day when it matters most, and if you know that the payoff for all the training and sacrifice will never come because your national selection process is run by a group of people with their collective heads up their collective a***es, then why wouldn't you take the best payday offered? Worse, some field event throwers even offered to pay their own travel costs to Paris or Tokyo and UK Athletics still told them they couldn't go and didn't send a team. But that gave them an idea and now they're trying to charge people . If UK Athletics doesn't want people in the enhanced games, then maybe they should consider taking every single British athlete who qualified for a world championship or Olympics in their event to said world championship at the expense of UK Athletics. If you don't do that, you can't blame British Athletes for trying to make a buck.
I always find these emotional examples a little tricky:
1. On the whole, I do agree UKA should take more athletes. To (mildly) play devil's advocate, however: you take Nader as an example; Nader would have been picked on the UK team pretty much any day (Ok, maybe besides Eugene 2022, with Gourley, Whightman and Kerr all having great seasons, and even Jake Heyward was left out coming off an Olympic final). But anyone of Nader's caliber would have been in in 99% of cases. He'd already been competing very well prior to the World Champ title. Granted, your point may be "people can have a stormer on the day and get to the final" -- but I'm not sure that really fulfils UKA's mandate; they are trying to maximise medals. And of course, it doesn't account for people getting valuable championship experience. I would much prefer they filled the fields with anyone eligible; and do think they could spread the support across more athletes (since the top athletes are likely those that need it the least, I would think).
2. Ben Connor, I appreciated his stance on 'people shouldn't have to pay to represent', but people seem to conveniently ignore this was the first edition of the brand new "European Road Running Championships". One question to ask: Should UKA spend more of its (atrociously limited) funds on every new event that gets cooked up, syphoning them away from 'traditional' track and field? Personally, I don't think so (though I understand others may disagree). Like, this would make it even more likely to send fewer athletes to the World Championships. Also -- Let's bear in mind that the devolved nations (England / Scotland / etc...) ended up paying the ~1,000 GBP that were being asked.
Speaking of sprinting, I would be more excited to see currently banned, still young stars compete, like Asinga and Knighton. OK Kerley has signed up, but he's already 30, and will be 31 in May 2026.
But for Asinga and Knighton, the $ considerations are different, as they could reasonably mount a comeback in 2027 (Asinga, then age 22) and 2029 (Knighton, then age 24).
Of course, on the distance side, the possibilities of in-shape banned stars are endless, from Kandie + Kipruto to Chepngetich, but the Enhanced Games don't seem to be that interested in longer events.
athletes still get tested whilst serving bans, if they dope for the enhanced games and are then also tested and popped (again) by WADA, their existing ban will be extended/a new one given to them
if they want to do the enhanced games, they will feasibly have to entirely turn their backs on a proper (clean) athletics career
although theoretically could they sign up and then compete clean?? given their abilities they still could win, and they could earn money while banned training as always. yes it would be a PR hit, but the economics still might work.
surely the authorities couldn't penalise them for doing a track meet that's not sanctioned??
I agree UKA are a bunch of morons, and that for major champs (WCs & Olympics) full teams should be sent. However there are too many smaller competitions, especially on the distance running side, which frankly don't matter and would vastly distort the sport towards distance and away from sprints/field events.
