American swimming legend Michael Phelps has shared his stance on banned substances.
In an interview with the AP, Phelps argued that athletes who test positive for banned substances should be banned from competition for life.
Phelps emphasized, “If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again, cut and dry,” stressing, “I believe one and done.”
His comments appear directed towards Chinese swimmers. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the World Aquatics reported that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for banned substances ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. However, both organizations accepted China’s explanation that the positives resulted from contaminated food, allowing them to compete.
Nine athletes who had tested positive competed in the Paris Olympics and won medals. British swimmer Adam Peaty criticized these athletes, saying, “There’s no point winning if you’re not winning fair.”
Phelps insisted that the swimmers who tested positive should not have been allowed to participate in the Tokyo or Paris Games.
“I subjected myself to do more testing — blood, and urine — weekly. Why? For the reason that I could say I’m not cheating and I am clean, and here are the results.”
“I did it the clean way,” he added. “I won 23 Olympic gold medals the clean way. It can be done.”
Reflecting on the issue, Phelps remarked, “It does break my heart to see people put hard effort into four straight years to prepare for an Olympic Games, then to have it taken away from them by somebody who is cheating.”
He also criticized athletes tempted to use banned substances, stating, “Go ahead and go to the cheater games. Keep the Olympics about integrity.”
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