Tarnished Gold: 14 Time Olympic Champion A Doper?
14-times Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps caught with cannabis pipe
By Georgina Dickinson
THIS is the astonishing picture which could destroy the career of the greatest competitor in Olympic history.
In our exclusive photo Michael Phelps, who won a record EIGHT gold medals for swimming at the Beijing games last summer, draws from a bong.
The glass pipes are generally used to smoke cannabis.
And after sporting chiefs announced laws which mean four-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps’ dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be OVER.
Those dreams seemed the last thing on his mind when he puffed from the bong during two days of partying with students last November, a quiet time in the swimming calendar when athletes would not expect to get tested for drugs.
One party-goer who witnessed the star’s behaviour told the News of the World: “He was out of control from the moment he got there.
“If he continues to party like that I’d be amazed if he ever won any more medals again.â€
Phelps’ aides went into a panic over our story and offered us a raft of extraordinary incentives not to run the bong picture.
It was on November 6, weeks after his Beijing triumph, that 23-year-old Phelps surprised students at the University Of South Carolina in Columbia by showing up unannounced at a house party.
He was visiting Jordan Matthews, a girl he was secretly seeing who was a student there.
Our source revealed: “Michael came to visit Jordan but ended up just getting wasted every night.
“He arrived with a group of girls hanging all over him. Jaws hit the floor when he walked in. You don’t get many celebrities in Columbia, so when Phelps comes to your party it’s a very big deal.
Obnoxious
“He didn’t know many people so you’d think he’d be a little shy. But he was loud, obnoxious and slamming beers from the get-go.
“Every girl wanted a piece of him and every guy wanted to be his best buddy. He couldn’t get enough of all the attention.â€
As he basked in his hero status, Phelps knocked back beers and shots of spirits. And when a student offered him the glass bong engraved with red writing, he did not hesitate, says our source.
The 6ft 4ins athlete, in a white T-shirt and navy cap worn back to front, clasped the device in his huge hands and inhaled deeply.
Our source said: “You could tell Michael had smoked before. He grabbed the bong and a lighter and knew exactly what to do.
“He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming in the pool. He was the gold medal winner of bong hits. Michael ended up getting a little paranoid, though, because before too long he looked like he was nervous and ran out of the place.â€
But the next night, Phelps was out partying again. The source added: “He was right back at it at Pavlov’s bar.
“Like the night before he was holding court, throwing back shots two at a time and pouring drinks to every cute girl.â€
Drink has got Phelps into trouble before. In 2004, aged 19, he got 18 months probation for driving while under the influence.
His wild behaviour is in stark contrast to the grim regime which took him to the top of his sport.
He once described his life, saying: “All you do is eat, sleep, swim; eat, sleep, swim; eat, sleep, swim.â€
Last night Phelps’ management team and the sporting world closed ranks over the scandal.
Taint
The US Olympics Committee, who have pledged to clamp down on drug use, refused to comment, as did USA Swimming and Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman.
More surprising still was the World Anti-Doping Agency’s refusal to comment, given that they introduced the four-year ban on sport’s drug users.
Phelps, who earned £4million last year in endorsements, has resumed training for the 2012 games.
But there were fears about his commitment when, weeks after the bong incident, he began dating former stripper Caroline Pal.
Phelps is represented by marketing giant Octagon, which works with huge brands such as Mastercard and HSBC. They admitted proven cannabis use would be “a major taint†on Phelps’ character.
Spokesman Clifford Bloxham offered us an extraordinary deal not to publish our story, saying Phelps would become our columnist for three years, host events and get his sponsors to advertise with us.
In return, he asked that we kill Phelps’ bong picture. Bloxham said: “It’s seeing if something potentially very negative for Michael could turn into something very positive for the News of the World.â€
He stressed that the swimmer had taken 1,500 drug tests and never failed one.
Until now?
 |
|
OK, so am I to understand that smoking some pot, and partying is NOT OK for a swimmer, but IS OK for 60% of Americans? The goals of drug-enforcement in sports is to prevent performance ENHANCEMENT drugs. Who in their right f-ing minds would call weed a performance ENHANCING drug? If anything, it makes you wanna sit on a couch, eat cheetos, and watch south park re-runs till u giggle yourself to sleep. Hell, Obama did COKE for crying out loud, and admitted to it!!!! this guy is a swimmer!!!! not the POTUS…This news outlet needs to get a life.
OK. Obambi admitted to “casual” cocaine use. He’s the POTUS. Here’s a swimmer, who has no direct control over our lives, and smokes some pot at a college party. SO WHAT???? WHO cares? The governing bodies who enforce laws pertaining to performance ENHANCING drug use want to go after him? POT? A performance ENHANCEMENT?? are u kidding me? pot doesnt enhance performance, it makes u hungry and lazy. I should know
Oh my God!!!! The world is coming to an end. For Christ sake who gives a fuck.
OK, so am I to understand that smoking some pot, and partying is NOT OK for a swimmer, but IS OK for 60% of Americans?
—————————-
well its really not ok. we have laws against it too. i dont think weed should be illegal, but it is.
yea fo real, a man won 14 gold medals, he deserves a toke for a victory
no big deal. It would be a travesty if he wasn’t in the 2012 olympics because of a little partying. Hes certainly entitled to it for how much he works.
You’d think he’d know bong hits on film would have blow back.
My eyes may deceive but I don’t see any smoke in the bong or in the photo … so do we have a toker or a staged photo??
well its really not ok. we have laws against it too. i dont think weed should be illegal, but it is.
well, in alot of townships across the country and in the state of maine, it’s been decriminalized. Dunno about other states, and Mass recently did the same thing in the past election.
No shit, old boy was training non stop for years to pull off all those medals. If he wants to take a break from training, or be done with competitive swimming for that matter, then he earned a little rest and relaxation, if he wants to burn some ganja, he is a big boy.
Course I am a libertarian anyway, and think that illegal dope is as stupid as prohibition, so I may be biased.
I’m with mart on this one, who fucking cares.
I guess it would be OK for him to be a binge drinker?
He trained at University of Michigan, this should suprise no one.
i wish they would legalize that shit all the way across this country. too many jail cells and tax dollars are being taken up because of this petty offense. and no im not talking about crack or anything heavy like that. weed is non addictive and it doesnt cause car crashes.
I will take the libertarian view; legalize it and tax the shit out of it…
So like, dude…there’s a pizza at the other end of the pool, you know…so like, swim your ass off and chow down on it, like…really fast or something?
So basically…he can’t compete in the 2012 because of weed. However if he admits to it, he can qualify to be President in 2012. Hell, weed is nowhere as bad as coke.
shit, im gonna smoke some pot right now in his honor.
His ex-girlfriend must have been really pissed. Opps.
Mom I am telling you the truth!!! My eyes are red because of the chlorine!!!!
He smoked weed….big freaking deal. It could be a lot worse. He could have snorted blow, sucked cock, forged a birth certificate and become president.
I saw we let Michael Phelps competition decide his fate for the 2012 Olympics.
Well, there’s always the porn industry
I gotta go with Kurt here. I could care less IF he was smoking pot. But, It’s ILLEGAL, AND He is looking to make his money off of endorsements. There is not a lot of money in professional swimming. LOL This could cost him 10’s if not 100’s of millions of dollars. This is not good.
Oh, and another thing. The little pricks that narc’ed on him ought to have their asses kicked.
We got any people over there? (that’s just a joke. I would never advocate violence. Well, I might but not in this case)
I really could give a flying fuck about Michael Phelps doing drugs. In fact I hope this is true so I know he is not an alien.
I’de like to smoke one with the man, as long as it was his cause you know his deep ass lungs he would be a bogart. Like they said, he got paranoid and left, nuff said.
Last time I checked, Phelps appears to be human. Also, the last time I checked, the last PERFECT human to walk the earth, walked it over 2000 years ago.
.
The man in the picture? I don´t even know if it IS him at all. Fuck it - He´s still a baddassswimmingmotherfucker!
.
Now, where did I put my ZigZags?
There isn’t even any smoke in the bong, so how can he be smoking anyway
I seem to recall a Canadian snowboarder got to keep his gold medal after a scandal related to pot use. Do precedents carry any weight in Olympic officiating and judging circles I wonder? It is something he should at least be aware of.
Like having a coffee if you ask me.
I got’em right here……just a sec.