Michael Phelps, the American former competitive swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time, has urged U.S. lawmakers to push for a reform of the global anti-doping effort in sport. Phelps also remarked he was never confident he was competing against clean athletes.
The most decorated Olympian, testifying in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Finance, also expressed his frustration at the lack of progress in the fight against the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport. Phelps said he does not believe he had stood up at an international competition and the rest of the field has been clean. The US swimmer went on to remark he does not think he had ever felt that and added throughout his career he had thought that some athletes were cheating and those suspicions were confirmed in some cases.
Phelps went on to remark that he was tested 13 times before the Rio Olympics when close to 2,000 athletes in ‘high risk’ sports were not tested even once. The 31-year-old swimming great took home five gold medals at the Rio Games and one silver to bring his total medal count to 28 over the course of four Olympics.
The 31-year-old himself has his own very history with usage of problematic substances. Phelps was photographed with a marijuana pipe in early 2009 and twice arrested for drunk driving. The US swimmer even went to rehab ahead of the Rio Games. In his time at the rehab, Phelps’ self-proclaimed former flame Taylor Lianne Chandler revealed graphic details of their alleged sex life. Plus-sized dominatrix Kim Petro claimed the swimmer gave her a $900 ‘donation’ for her to come to his hotel in February 2013 and allegedly engage in explicit acts while Phelps was wearing ‘skimpy women’s underwear.’
Phelps was joined at the hearing by Adam Nelson, Athens Summer Games shot put gold medalist. Nelson waited for nine years before he received the gold medal after Yuri Belonog of Ukraine was stripped of his gold following a failed drugs test. Nelson delivered an emotional account and said the medal came with a side of fries and a free toy and added the color and timing of a medal matter. Nelson said silver does not hold the same value and gold loses its shine over time.
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart remarked at the hearing that the International Olympic Committee has been extremely soft on cheaters. Tygart said it was wrong on part of the IOC to ignore calls to ban Russia from the Rio Olympics and instead leave it on individual sport governing bodies to determine if Russian athletes should be allowed to compete in the Rio Summer Games of last year. Tygart also remarked at least two Olympic Games were corrupted and at the Rio Games this past August scores of Russian athletes were allowed to compete without credible anti-doping measures.
The USADA chief also said he IOC chose to welcome the Russian Olympic Committee to Rio when the moment came, despite mountains of evidence and vocal opposition from anti-doping leaders and clean athletes from around the world.
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