BATON ROUGE, LA - School of Kinesiology Director and Karen Wax Schmitt and Family Endowed Professor John Nauright presented and led the feature session on The Enhanced Games at the International Network of Doping Research Conference on August 15-16. The theme of the conference was “Pushing Boundaries in Enhancement.” He presented his work Beyond Scapegoats: Money, Doping and the Myth of the Level Playing Field in Sports, which explored the cases of Romanian gymnast Andrea Răducan, Russian ice skater Kamila Valieva, and recent discussions about Chinese swimmers.

Nauright also led the session on reactions to a keynote address by Aron d’Souza, founder and President of The Enhanced Games. D’Souza focuses on “reinventing the world of medicine and what it means to be human.” The Enhanced Games is a new approach that encourages performance enhancements under appropriate medical safeguards. The aim is to evolve humanity and demonstrate what the body can do. According to D’Souza, the goal is to improve the quality of life through improved scientific and medical data. The session and conference engaged with the Enhanced idea to move the field of doping and performance enhancement research forward as we understand problems and opportunities created by the current global sports system.

In his paper, Nauright concludes that “The International Olympic Committee, the World Aanti-Doping Agency (WADA) and other international federations repeatedly fail to live up to their self-described ideals as they find just enough “scapegoats” to reassure the public that their values being protected by defending a “level playing field” that we all know does not exist. Why should we continue to support a system that is willing to scapegoat children such as Andrea Răducan and Kamila Valieva as cheats to protect a puritanical system that does not exist in reality? 

Nauright and other conference presenters participated in a round table discussion entitled WADA in Crisis. As the international doping regulatory body, WADA has become omnipresent in the creation of a banned substance list and the control and punishment of athletes. 

Nauright is a member of The International Network of Doping Research (INDR), established in 2002. The INDR intends to share and encourage research on doping practices in their broadest cultural, social, and political dimensions. Members are only invited to join after publishing multiple research papers on issues related to doping and sport.

About CHSE

The College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) is a nationally accredited division of Louisiana State University. The college comprises the School of Education, the School of Information Studies, the School of Kinesiology, the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development, and the School of Social Work. CHSE has two model demonstration schools: the Early Childhood Education Laboratory Preschool, which enrolls birth to age four, and the University Laboratory School, which enrolls kindergarten through grade 12. The college also has four centers and institutes: the Early Childhood Education Institute, the Healthy Aging Research Center, the Leadership Development Institute, and the Social Research & Evaluation Center. The college is committed to achieving the highest standards in teaching, research, and service and improving quality of life across the lifespan.

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About SOK

The LSU School of Kinesiology (SOK) advances the understanding of physical activity, sport, and health to optimize the quality of life for diverse populations through excellence in teaching, learning, discovery, and engagement. SOK offers a BS, MS, Online MS, PhD, and two certificate options. Graduates go on to successful careers in the health and fitness industry, corporate wellness, sports agencies and businesses, athletic administration, and K-12 educational settings. SOK is part of the College of Human Sciences & Education.

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