Athlete Suspensions Aplenty
May 12th, 2009 by Rick
In the wake of Michael Phelps being suspended for three months for an “incriminating” photo of him toking on a bong, several other athletes have been suspended or face being suspended in their respective sport.
NASCAR had a random drug test last weekend at Richmond International Raceway, in which NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield failed. Mayfield was suspended infinitely, which led to his disqualification from entering Saturday’s night Sprint Cup, held at the Darlington Speedway. Mayfield is also the first driver to be suspended under the improved substance abuse policy.
In Brussels, Belgium, the 2005 World Cycling Champion Tom Boonen, was suspended by his Quick Step team, after testing positive for cocaine. After winning the Paris-Roubaix classic earlier in April, he was tested weeks later on April 24th by Flanders regional government authorities. This is Boonen’s second time for testing positive for cocaine, the last time leading to his missing the Tour De France.
On Saturday, Boonen admitted he had a “problem”:
The night before the drug test, I went. I stayed for a while and I drank. At some stage I must have taken something. Then I had a blackout. [...] I think I have a problem. After spending three to four months working, when I go out I probably over-step the mark and I become someone else. [...] For 364 days a year, it’s perfect. I try to be an exemplary citizen. But the day that I drink too much, something that I don’t do often, I change. I will now seek help.
He’s human, like the rest of us… and recreationally taking cocaine is not like taking a performance enhancing drug. Boonen won’t face sporting sanctions because cocaine is not on the list of cycling’s banned substances for non-competing athletes. What I find amazing is the fact that it is a regional government conducting the drug tests, not the industry itself. Why would those that govern the sporting industry submit their athletes to local government sanctioned drug tests?
In the world of tennis, 22-year old Richard Gasquet tested positive for cocaine. Back in March he pulled out of the Miami Masters with a shoulder injury and the “A” sample test administered there showed traces of the banned drug. Gasquet can be banned for 2 years if the “B” sample comes back positive for cocaine.
Gasquet admitted on Sunday:
The test of the B sample submitted at the end of March 2009, confirmed the positive result of the A sample taken on the same day. [...] I want to prove my innocence and will explain myself at an appropriate time. Given the complexity of the case, I am gathering the evidence of my innocence and will later set a date to make further comments.
Gasquet submitted himself to an independent hair analysis test which showed no trace of cocaine. If this is true then that’s good for Gasquet because it shows he’s not a habitual user of the recreational drug. Again he’s human… taking a recreational drug is better than taking an illegal drug that enhances his ability to play tennis. Wait, come to think of it that would be pot for some people.
Tiger Woods was even tested twice this year under the PGA Tour’s anti-doping policy, with one of the times being when he wasn’t even playing, due to his knee surgery. They (of course) came back negative, the only thing that seems to get Tiger high is golf.
However there is hope for the suspended. After all Michael Phelps has recovered from his suspension, a time that left him apparently thinking about giving it up:
I literally just woke up on a Sunday and wanted to swim another four years. [...] I don’t know what it was but it switched on in my head. [...] During the break, I was up in the air about everything. The hardest thing was, I did everything I wanted to do. I was like, ‘Where do I go from here?’
Phelps said that he doesn’t plan to retire and will be in the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, competing in some new events looking to add to his already impressive gold medal collection. His first meet is in May at the UltraSwim in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Phelps Starts to Feel the Heat
February 6th, 2009 by Perry
14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps is starting to receive negative backlash from the photo that recently surfaced of him smoking from a two-foot Roor.
A few days after sponsors like Omega and Speedo called the photo a “nonissue,” Phelps received a three-month ban by USA Swimming.
The ban means Phelps Phelps won’t be able to compete with, or receive funding from (like he needs it) the body that governs the nation’s swimming team. All this despite the fact that there was no doping violation (although smoking pot is against the rules, the photo wouldn’t stand up in court to the Chewbacca defense).
Apparently someone pissed in the Cheerios of the people at Kelloggs too, because they recently decided to “not renew” their contract with the athlete after some negative publicity. The contract ends in February.
Phelps recently responded to the photo in an interview with the Baltimore Sun, a paper nearby the Maryland native live, and described the incident as a 23-year-old making a youthful mistake.
I still can’t get over how he takes bong rips and then motivates himself to swim like a dolphin for hours — amazing.
No word yet on whether anyone from NORML has approached Phelps for sponsorship, but I can’t think of a spokesperson who could get medical marijuana passed in Maryland any faster. Could a DEA sponsoree sit there with a straight face and tell Michael Phelps he’s ruining his lungs?
