As someone who deplores doping in sport, I’d love to say that I have absolutely no interest in the Enhanced Games, which will take place later this year.

I wish I could say that I won’t be lapping up the claims that the athletes competing will better the existing world records.

And if only I could convince myself that when the Enhanced Games actually take place, I won’t be checking with interest if the numerous boasts of world-class performances actually come true.

But I can’t.

I’m not proud of it, but I’m fascinated by the prospect of the Enhanced Games.

The event itself is pretty self-explanatory. 

It’s being billed as the alternative Olympic Games, the difference being that the athletes are permitted to take whatever performance-enhancing drugs they want.

In contrast to the Olympics, where athletes must abide by a lengthy list of prohibited substances, the Enhanced Games has no such list. 

Anabolic steroids? Fine. EPO? No problem. Human growth hormone? Go for it. All are acceptable at the Enhanced Games. In fact, not just acceptable, they’re actually welcomed.

The concept of the Enhanced Games was first touted last year by the Australian lawyer and entrepreneur, Aron D’Souza and is being bankrolled by a small group of billionaires.

The idea is that by allowing the athletes to dope, they will be helping them to “reach their full potential”.

Although the suggestion of the Enhanced Games has been around for some months, it’s shot to the top of the news agenda in the past week or so due to one man; James Magnussen.

He’s a 32-year-old Australian swimmer who’s a two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist in the 100m freestyle.

Magnussen’s peak came over a decade ago; his world titles came in 2011 and 2013 while his Olympic silver came in 2012.

Yet he’s just made an extraordinary claim; that he’s going to “juice to the gills and break it within six months”, he says, referring to the 50m freestyle world record.

And if he does, indeed, break the world record, his reward will be a $1 million prize.

His pledge has, unsurprisingly, been slammed, being called “grotesque”, “irresponsible”, “tacky”, “selfish” and “stupid” by Magnussen’s fellow athletes and broadcasters.

All these words are entirely legitimate and accurate descriptions of the Enhanced Games and of Magnussen’s world record attempt. 

Of course it’s grotesque to take as many performance-enhancing drugs as you can, all of which are banned in professional sport, to see just how fast you can go. And of course it’s irresponsible to do this, because the example that might well being set to young athletes is that if you want to go really fast, the best way to do it is by doping.

Yet despite being well aware of these huge problems with the entire concept of the Enhanced Games, and fully agreeing with the issues raised, I can’t deny being fascinated by both the Games themselves, and Magnussen’s claim of bettering the current world record.

Of course the problems of the Games cannot be ignored.

But I am fascinated to see just what well-planned and well-executed doping can actually do for an athlete.

Magnussen’s personal best in the 50m freestyle was set 11 years ago, in 2013.

He admits himself that history suggests there’s no chance that over a decade later, he can go faster than he did as an athlete in his peak in his early twenties.

Yet the lure of the Enhanced Games is that actually, with some medical help, he will be able to go faster.

Much of the reason I’m so interested in these Games is to see just how much of a difference performance-enhancing drugs actually make, especially when they’re taken safely and the doping programme is monitored by medical professionals, as Magnussen’s will be.

Drugs don’t automatically make you a better athlete.

In short, they allow you to train harder and recover quicker.

They are not a replacement for training, they just allow you to do it better than if you were clean.

Even the most doped-up athlete still has to train like a world-class athlete to produce anything like world-class performances. 

So how much of an impact do these drugs actually have?

It’ll be so interesting to find out.

As things stand, we know that a significant number of elite athletes dope – the hundreds of suspensions from professional sport each year attests to this.

And we all heavily suspect that in addition to the athletes who’re caught for doping, there’s many more who take drugs but get away with it.

It’s why almost every time an athlete produces a truly outstanding performance in an Olympic Games or other global competition, the levels of suspicion that accompany it are through the roof.

The Enhanced Games will eliminate this uncertainty; we know that drugs are aiding these performances and now, we’ll be able to far more accurately judge by just how much.

In a funny way, this could be a blessing in disguise for clean sport; perhaps we’ll realise that doping increases performance so significantly that much of the suspicion around athletes at the Olympic Games will be eliminated because, if they were doping, would they not be faster than they are?

Or maybe the Enhanced Games will be exactly what the detractors are claiming; an abomination that is a slight on clean sport and the athletes who dedicate their lives to achieving sporting success the correct way; through talent and hard work and nothing else.

Either way, although I hate to admit it, I’ll be watching.