Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, recently said he believes athletes who test positive for a banned substance should not be allowed to compete again. Phelps’ comments followed a doping scandal centered on Chinese swimmers from the Tokyo Games that was made public earlier this year.
“If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again, cut and dry,” Phelps said, according to the Associated Press on Monday. “I believe one and done.”
On Sunday, China won the gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay to end the United States’ undefeated record in the race at the Olympics, and China’s swimming success in Paris has been met with scrutiny following the doping controversy.
Reporting from The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD in April revealed 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance seven months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 — and were never punished. The banned substance was trimetazidine (TMZ), a prescription heart drug that can enhance performance by increasing blood flow to the heart.
Some of the athletes who tested positive went on to medal in Tokyo and Paris. The swimmers were allowed to compete in the Olympics after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted China’s findings that suggested the Chinese swimmers unwittingly ingested the substance from food they ate at a hotel.
Other swimming stars, including U.S. Olympian Katie Ledecky and Great Britain swimmer Adam Peaty, have weighed in on the subject and expressed their support for stringent anti-doping policies.
Phelps — who medaled a record 28 times in five Games, including 23 gold medals — said the Chinese swimmers who tested positive should not have been allowed to compete in either the Tokyo or Paris Olympics, according to the AP.
“If everybody is not going through that same testing, I have a serious problem because it means the level of sport is not fair and it’s not even,” Phelps said, per the AP. “If you’re taking that risk, then you don’t belong in here.”
Phelps also said he underwent weekly blood and urine testing leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and achieved his gold medals “the clean way,” according to the AP.
“I don’t think I ever competed in an even playing field or a clean field,” Phelps said, per the AP. “I have some speculations of some athletes that I competed against that I thought they 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 faith in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s enforcement of its policies following the Chinese doping scandal.
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