Phelps Suspended and Stripped of Sponsor
Posted on 06. Feb, 2009 by Gouda in News, Sports
Michael Phelps had a rough day yesterday.
Not only was the eight gold medal winning swimmer suspended for three months by USA Swimming, he was also dropped from his Kellogg’s sponsorship within hours of the suspension news. These problems both stemmed from a photo that showed Phelps inhaling from a marijuana pipe that was published in News of the World on Sunday.
Perhaps that picture can finally justify Phelps’ widely publicized diet during the Olympics this past summer. Munchies, anyone?
“This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero,” the federation said in a statement.
Phelps has acknowledged “regrettable” behavior and “bad judgment,” and didn’t question the legitimacy of the photo.
Another Olympic swimmer, Amanda Beard, compared Phelps’ ordeal to backlash she received after posing nude in Playboy in 2007.
“If anyone knows public scrutiny, it’s me,” the swimmer said in a text message. “When I posed for Playboy, so many officials looked down on me. Michael knows he isn’t a bad person. He made a mistake. People need to get over it.”
Or maybe these Olympians just need to stay away from cameras.
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