Phelps says athletes caught doping should be suspended
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, recently said he believes athletes who test positive for a banned substance should be banned from competing. Phelps’ comments follow a doping scandal involving Chinese swimmers at the Tokyo Games that was made public earlier this year.
“If you test positive, you can never come back and compete, it’s that simple,” Phelps said, according to the Associated Press on Monday. “I believe one and done.”
China won the gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay on Sunday, ending the United States’ unbeaten record at the Olympics. China’s swimming success in Paris has been met with criticism amid the doping controversy.
Reporting by The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD in April revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance seven months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics — and were never punished. The banned substance was trimetazidine (TMZ), a prescription heart medication that can enhance performance by increasing blood flow to the heart.
Some of the athletes who tested positive went on to win medals in Tokyo and Paris. The swimmers were cleared to compete in the Olympics after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted China’s findings suggesting the Chinese swimmers had unknowingly ingested the substance through food they ate at a hotel.
Other swimming stars, including US Olympian Katie Ledecky and British swimmer Adam Peaty, have also spoken out on the issue and expressed support for strict anti-doping measures.
Phelps, who won a record 28 medals in five Games, including 23 gold medals, said the Chinese swimmers who tested positive should not have competed in the Tokyo or Paris Olympics, AP reported.
“If everyone is not being tested the same, I have a serious problem because that means the level of the sport is not fair and it’s not equal,” Phelps said, according to the AP. “If you take that risk, you don’t belong here.”
Phelps also said he underwent weekly blood and urine tests leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and that he earned his gold medals in a “clean manner,” AP reported.
“I don’t think I’ve ever competed on a level playing field or a clean field,” Phelps said, according to the AP. “I have some speculation about athletes that I’ve competed against that I thought were (doping). But that’s out of my control.”
Phelps has previously expressed his desire for tougher sanctions. He testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation in June, saying athletes have lost confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s enforcement of policies in the wake of the Chinese doping scandal.
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