Peter Thiel’s ‘Olympics on steroids’ says it’s considering letting athletes compete wearing Apple’s Vision Pro

The launch of the Apple Vision Pro at Apple The Grove in Los Angeles on February 2, 2024.

DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images

The CEO of the Enhanced Games said he is open to athletes using AR, VR, and mixed-reality tech.He said athletes could be allowed to use Apple’s Vision Pro while competing.He also mentioned “bionic or cybernetic” enhancements, in addition to pharmacological ones.

The CEO of the Enhanced Games — dubbed the “Olympics on steroids” by some — said that in addition to allowing performance-enhancing drugs, they are also open to athletes using tools like Apple’s Vision Pro.

In a news conference on Friday, following the first athlete signing up for the Peter Thiel-backed contest, CEO Aron D’Souza said that the organizers are open to athletes using AR, VR, and mixed-reality technology.

“Imagine a javelin thrower using Vision Pro,” he said, referring to the recently launched mixed-reality Apple headset.

D’Souza said he hopes the first games will take place in 2025.

He also said that while much of the media attention on the games has focused on pharmacological enhancements to athlete performance, “bionic and cybernetic enhancements” are also being considered.

He name-checked advancements made by Elon Musk, seemingly referring to his brain-microchip company Neuralink, which recently implanted its first chip into a human patient.

Earlier this week, retired Australian swimmer James Magnussen said he’d accepted an offer to compete at the Enhanced Games, making him the first athlete to do so.

Magnussen said he would “juice up to the gills” to break the 50-meter freestyle world record, with the organizers seemingly offering him $1 million if he successfully achieved the feat.

At the news conference, D’Souza said that none of the athletes would be required to disclose what drugs they are on, as they’re conscious of medical privacy, but they would be encouraged to disclose their performance regimens.

D’Souza said that the use of AR, VR, and mixed-reality technology might not be approved in time for the first Enhanced Games.

He also said that while there’s been interest from robotic companies hoping to enter robots into the contest, that’s not on the cards for now.

Ultimately, the Enhanced Games are about “the future, technology, about progress,” D’Souza said, contrasting it with the Olympic Games, which he described as being about Ancient Greece and the past.