Are steroids the future? At the Enhanced Games, that future is now
Key takeaways
- Collins glances at the collection of fellow athletes filling the seats around her and worries that she should be taking notes.
- Collins decided more than a week ago what she would take and had been excited about getting started.
- Oh, this is real, she thinks to herself.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
The Enhanced Games has sold a group of athletes on its vision of a future of PEDs. Can it convince the rest of us? Natalie Naccache for ESPNDan Murphy May 23, 2026, 08:33 AM ETClose Dan Murphy is a reporter on ESPN's investigative and enterprise team. Reach him at daniel.murphy@espn.com.Follow on XMultiple Authors Email Print Open Extended Reactions SHANIA COLLINS IS having second thoughts. On an early morning in March, she sits in a conference room on the top floor of the futuristic Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City tower in Abu Dhabi. At the front of the room, flanked by a row of fellow medical providers, a doctor reviews in painstaking detail the benefits and risks associated with a substantial list of performance-enhancing drugs.
Collins glances at the collection of fellow athletes filling the seats around her and worries that she should be taking notes. She's too focused on the feeling of her heart pounding in her chest to pull out her phone. When the presentation draws to a close, she walks down the hallway into a private room to learn how to administer her steroids in the months ahead. A nurse demonstrates how to use and reload her injector pen, and Collins wipes a pair of sweaty palms against her legs before giving it a try.
The hospital visit is something of a formality. Collins decided more than a week ago what she would take and had been excited about getting started. But now, 7,000 miles from home on the brink of a decision she can't undo, reality sinks in hard.