Race “sperm” of US students in reproductive health stunts

Commentators scream with excitement as hundreds of spectators glue to the racetrack video, but the athletes they cheer are actually tiny sperm cells.

The rare sport was invented by 17-year-old high school student Eric Zhu. He raised over $1 million to organize the event to focus on men’s infertility.

Zhu said he was inspired by a social media post claiming that his average sperm count has been halved over the past 50 years.

Fearing “There may be this dystopian future where no one can have babies,” Zhu said he wanted to use competition to emphasize the importance of reproductive health.

Scientists have not reached a consensus on whether humanity has experienced a dramatic decline in sperm count.

At a Friday night Los Angeles event, a man in a white coat used a pipette to place semen samples.

The racetrack was magnified 100 times under a microscope and was shot with a camera that transferred the images to 3D animation software before the final video was broadcast to the audience.

“There’s no real way to tell if this is true or not, but I want to believe it is,” 20-year-old audience member Felix Escobar told AFP.

At the end of the short race, the 19-year-old University of California student Asher Proger loser was sprayed with a semen-like liquid.

“It’s not Elon Musk.”

Zhu’s fear of enlargement reflects many topics in the burgeoning pro-Natalist movement, including conservative and far-right politicians.

However, Zhu distanced himself from the movement.

“I have nothing to do with this. I’m not like Elon Musk, who wants to recreate the planet,” the young entrepreneur told AFP.

Musk, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has spoken out about his belief that population decline threatens the West, giving birth to more than dozens of children with multiple women.

Zhu argued that he simply wanted to raise awareness about the way sperm quality works with overall health.

“Sleep early is your choice. Stopping drugs is your choice. Eating healthier is your choice, and all these different things have a big impact on your motility,” Zhu said.

Shanna Swan, a reproductive epidemiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, co-authored a study cited by Zhu that found a decrease in sperm count.

She said the recent growth of “hormonally active chemicals” has had a negative effect on human fertility.

But under scientific veneers, sperm races may seem like an opportunity for college students to take part in viral stunts with adolescent humor.

Some attendees wore costumes that resemble male genitals, but the host jokingly roasted the contestants.

The event’s YouTube live stream attracted over 100,000 views.

“I can’t say I learned something I didn’t know before,” the 22-year-old student and audience member Alberto Avila Baka told AFP.

©2025 AFP