Emmanuel Matadi is the newest addition to the Enhanced Games, the “Steroid Olympics” set to take place next May. The Liberian sprinter is the first track athlete to join the games who hasn’t served a doping suspension.
Matadi (34) is a three-time Olympian, competing in the 100-meter and 200-meter events in Rio and Tokyo as well as the 100-meter and 4 x 100-meter relay in Paris. He came to the United States from Liberia in 2016 when his family left during the Liberian Civil War.
Matadi graduated from high school in Minnesota before attending the University of Louisville and Minnesota State University. At Minnesota State, he won the NCAA Division II Championships in the 100-meter and 200-meter events in 2015.
Matadi’s highest finish at an international championship is a bronze medal in the 200-meter at the 2016 African Championships. He reached the semi-finals in the 100-meter at last year’s Olympics, running 10.18 seconds.
Enhanced Games Statement and Current 100-meter Field
On the addition of Matadi, the Enhanced Games’ Chief Sporting Officer, Rick Adams, said in their press release, “Emmanuel is an internationally accomplished Olympic level sprinter respected across the track community for his talent and we’re fortunate to have him join us for what is shaping up to be a very competitive sprinting field as well.”
In almost any other situation, the field could be considered a competitive one. However, the Enhanced Games are largely being marketed as a non-official world record attempt, and even with the utmost optimism, it’s nearly impossible to see any of the current athletes registered come anywhere near the record. It’s also likely fair to say that no active sprinter has a legitimate shot at the record in the short window between now and May.
For an event that claims to be “evolving humanity,” the Enhanced Games are arguably becoming more of a hub for 30+ sprinters past their prime than a hub for scientific advancement.
Although Matadi is 34 years old, he’s only two seasons removed from running a personal best of 9.91 seconds.
He joins two other sprinters who have signed up for the event: Fred Kerley (30), the former World Champion with a personal best of 9.76 seconds, and Mouhamadou Fall (33) with a personal best of 10.04 seconds (9.93 seconds wind-aided).
Unlike Kerley and Fall, Matadi has never served a doping suspension. Although the Enhanced Games are largely being called the “Steroid Olympics,” it’s worth noting that athletes don’t necessarily need to dope to join the games.
Kerley received a provisional suspension in August for whereabouts failures and Fall is currently serving an 18-month suspension set to expire in July for failures to meet anti-doping location requirements.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has harshly criticized the games, previously calling them “moronic” and threatening lengthy bans for any athlete who joins the games.
Why Are Athletes Joining?
Track and field has long struggled to financially compensate athletes comparably to the major team sports. The Enhanced Games’ main appeal is its large prize purses compared to the purses of World Athletics-sanctioned events.
Winning a Diamond League event pays out $10,000, but the Enhanced Games is offering $250,000 for first prize. They’re also offering a $1 million bonus to anybody who breaks the World Record in the 100-meter.
For an athlete in their mid-30s like Matadi, it’s not hard to see the appeal of trying to cash in during the twilight years of his career.
The addition of Matadi and six other athletes across swimming and weightlifting was announced roughly three weeks after a judge dismissed the Enhanced Games $800 million antitrust lawsuit against the World Anti-Doping Agency, World Aquatics, and USA Swimming. The lawsuit alleged that these organizations launched an illegal campaign to make athletes boycott their event.
Aron D’Souza, the co-founder and CEO of the Enhanced Games, recently stepped down from his position but will stay on as a shareholder. Billionaire Christian Angermayer will take over as the new CEO.
As we wrote about previously, the Enhanced Games have been linked to several prominent billionaires, including Donald Trump Jr, who said:
“The Enhanced Games represent the future – real competition, real freedom, and real records being smashed. This is about excellence, innovation, and American dominance on the world stage – something the MAGA movement is all about.”