Two American students went head-to-head in what organizers are calling the world’s first sperm race, held at one of Los Angeles’ most famous venues.
Four young entrepreneurs from the United States raised $1.5 million to host the unusual event, which took place at the Hollywood Palladium on Friday night.
The competition involved sperm samples from two healthy university students racing against each other along an 8-inch (20-centimeter) track designed to mimic the female reproductive system.
The goal was to raise awareness about male fertility, which scientists warn is collapsing at a troubling speed.
The spectacle included livestreams, instant replays, and even live betting odds.
The winner, 20-year-old Tristan Milker from the University of Southern California, was eventually crowned champion.
“There could be this dystopian future where no one will be able to make babies,” said 17-year-old Eric Zhu, the high schooler who created the idea for the competition.
Watch the clip below:
At the event, a man wearing a lab coat used pipettes to place sperm samples — collected beforehand — onto tiny tracks only 2mm wide.
The races were magnified 100 times using a microscope and filmed with a camera that fed the footage into 3D animation software.
The resulting video was then broadcast to the audience.
“There’s no way to really tell if this is real, but I want to believe it is,” said Felix Escobar, a 20-year-old spectator.
Zhu’s concerns about falling fertility rates echo similar ideas from the growing pro-natalist movement, although he denied being part it.
“I have nothing to do with this, I’m not like an Elon Musk, who wants to repopulate the Earth,” Zhu added.
Last week, it was reported that the Trump administration had begun exploring ways to address America’s demographic crisis.
This exploration included a range of proposals designed to encourage families to have more children.
Among these proposals include reserving 30 percent of Fulbright scholarships for applicants who are married or have children, giving mothers a $5,000 payment following childbirth and fund programs to educate women on reproductive health and fertility awareness.
