‘World’s first sperm race’ held in Los Angeles
Students in Los Angeles have raised $1.5 million to raise awareness of declining male fertility, through a unique sporting endeavour
A pair of American students have held the “world’s first” sperm race in a new competition at one of Los Angeles’ most well-known arenas.
Four teenage entrepreneurs from the United States, raised $1.5 million (£1.13 million) to stage the Sperm Racing event at the Hollywood Palladium on Friday.
The event pitted samples taken from two healthy young university students against each other on a racetrack eight inches (20cm) long and modelled on the female reproductive system, all in an effort to raise awareness about male fertility.
Tristan Mykel, 20, a student at the University of Southern California student who went by the name “Tristan Milker” and described himself as a “fertility athlete” was crowned champion.
Replete with livestreams, instant replays and even live odds, the spectacle saw the loser, Asher Proeger, a 19-year-old University of California student, sprayed with a liquid resembling semen.
“There could be this dystopian future where no one will be able to make babies,” Eric Zhu the 17-year-old high schooler who invented the sport, said.
At the LA event on Friday night, a man in a lab coat used pipettes to place samples of semen – collected from contestants ahead of time – on 2mm long “tracks”.
The race track was magnified 100 times by a microscope, then filmed by a camera that transferred the image to 3D animation software before the final video was broadcast to the audience.
“There’s no way to really tell if this is real, but I want to believe it is,” Felix Escobar, a 20-year-old spectator, said.
Mr Zhu’s fears about fertility echo the talking points of many in the burgeoning pro-natalist movement, which includes conservative and far-right political figures.
“I have nothing to do with this, I’m not like an Elon Musk, who wants to repopulate the Earth,” the young entrepreneur said.
Musk, a close ally of US president Donald Trump, has been vocal about his belief that population decline threatens the West and has fathered over a dozen children with multiple women.
“It’s your choice to sleep earlier. It’s your choice to stop doing drugs. It’s your choice to eat healthier, and all these different things have a significant kind of impact on your motility,” Mr Zhu added.
Donald Trump’s administration is said to be mulling a series of incentives to encourage women to have more children and push conservative family values.
Proposals include a “National Medal of Motherhood” to mothers with six or more children, and giving every American mother $5,000 after delivery.
Scientists have not reached a consensus on whether humanity has experienced a dramatic drop in sperm count, with studies showing conflicting results. Birth rates, however, have fallen in several countries, raising concerns about ageing and declining populations.
Shanna Swan, a reproductive epidemiologist at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, co-authored a study that found the sperm count decline cited by Mr Zhu.
She said the proliferation of “hormonally active chemicals” in recent years has had a negative impact on human fertility.
But beneath the scientific veneer, the sperm race may seem more like an opportunity for college students to display their adolescent humour and participate in a viral stunt.
Some attendees dressed in costumes, including one resembling male genitals, while the hosts made lewd jokes and made fun of the competitors.
A YouTube livestream of the event attracted more than 100,000 views.
