Rethinking Fairness: Ethical and Doping Dynamics in The Enhanced Games

The realm of competitive sports has long been governed by a commitment to fairness and athlete welfare, principles deeply embedded in the ethos of traditional sporting events such as the Olympics. However, The Enhanced Games, a groundbreaking sporting event where the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) is permitted, poses a formidable challenge to these conventions. Central to the debate are ethical dilemmas concerning fairness, athlete autonomy, and health consequences. While traditional sports maintain strict anti-doping policies to uphold equality and athlete health, The Enhanced Games advocates for open enhancement, generating substantial discourse on moral boundaries and the role of technology in sports. This evolving landscape prompts questions regarding the implications for sporting integrity and calls for a comprehensive exploration of existing gaps in today's sports ethics discourse.

This Research Topic aims to thoroughly investigate the ethical implications, health ramifications, and societal impacts of openly permitting doping in athletic competitions. Key questions driving this exploration include: Is it ethically justifiable under the principle of athlete autonomy? What are the potential long-term health consequences for athletes, and can medical supervision mitigate these risks without endorsing potentially dangerous practices? Additionally, the research seeks to understand how this approach redefines fairness, whether it creates disparities by favoring those with access to superior enhancement technologies, and its impact on public perception, including concerns about normalizing doping and its influence on existing anti-doping efforts.

To gather further insights in the complex interplay between ethics, doping dynamics, and sports innovation, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Ethical frameworks supporting or opposing The Enhanced Games.
- Comprehensive health studies assessing risks and benefits.
- Comparative analysis with traditional anti-doping sports models.
- Examination of public perception and policy development in sports.

We encourage submissions in formats such as original research, review articles, case studies, and commentaries to thoroughly address these vital questions and advance the discourse on ethics and doping in sports.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Ethics, Fairness, Doping, Enhanced Games, Athletes, Governing Bodies, Sports

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.