Phelps Apologizes After Being Photographed With Marijuana Pipe /
By Larry Siddons
Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Phelps apologized after being pictured in a U.K. newspaper with a marijuana pipe, saying his behavior at a college party three months ago was “regrettable.”
“I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me,” the record 14-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer said in a statement through his representatives, Octagon. “For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public -- it will not happen again.”
Marijuana, the drug commonly associated with devices such as the one he was photographed using, is an outlawed substance in Olympic sports. First-time offenders caught using it get a two year ban from competition. The 23-year-old Phelps, who won a single-Games record eight gold medals at the Olympics in Beijing in August, has never has been cited for doping violations.
The News of the World, a London-based Sunday tabloid, published a photo of a person it identified as Phelps using a long glass pipe, commonly known as a bong. In his statement, the Baltimore native didn’t identify any substance used at the party, in South Carolina in November. Nor did the newspaper, although it said the devices are “generally used to smoke cannabis.”
“Michael is a role model, and he is well aware of the responsibilities and accountability that come with setting a positive example for others, particularly young people,” the U.S. Olympic Committee said in a statement. “In this instance, regrettably, he failed to fulfill those responsibilities.”
Disappointed
USA Swimming also said it was disappointed in the behavior of its biggest star.
“That said, we realize that none among us is perfect,” the governing body said in a statement. “We hope that Michael can learn from this incident and move forward in a positive way.”
It isn’t the first time Phelps has run into post-Olympic problems involving substance abuse.
In 2004, after winning six gold medals at the Athens Games, he was charged with under-age drinking after a traffic stop in Maryland. He was sentenced to 18 months’ probation.
Cannabis, or marijuana, is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which sets rules and oversees testing for Olympic-level sports.
Athletes at that level are subject to drug testing at meets and during time off, with no advance notice. Phelps told reporters in New York a year ago that he had asked the U.S. Anti- Doping Agency to test him more frequently than usual to avoid questions of whether his swimming was aided by steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs. He never has failed a drug test, according to U.S. and world doping agency results.
Phelps’s performance in Beijing helped General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal unit draw ratings 13 percent higher than for the 2004 Athens Games. The swimmer was named the USOC’s male athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine’s sportsman of the year. |
