Phelps Calls for Permanent Doping Bans, U.S. Olympic Bid at Risk

The most decorated Olympian in history continues to throw down the hammer against doping.

American swimmer Michael Phelps (above), who won 23 gold medals across five different Olympic Games, said he believes anyone who is caught doping should receive a lifetime ban.

“If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again, cut and dry,” Phelps said Monday in Paris. “I believe in one and done.”

While Phelps hasn’t competed in the Olympics since 2016, he claims there have always been competitors who were doping.

“I don’t think I ever competed in an even playing field or a clean field,” Phelps said. “I have some speculations of some athletes that I competed against that I thought they were [doping]. But that’s out of my control.”

Because of his dominance in the sport, Phelps has also been questioned for doping in the past. He said he was constantly called a “cheater,” and that before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he decided to go through additional testing to prove his innocence.

Phelps has been critical of the World Anti-Doping Agency for its decision to allow 23 Chinese swimmers to compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics after they tested positive for a banned substance. 

A team nutritionist from China said on a now-deleted social media post on the Chinese site Weibo that the country’s delegation of 31 swimmers were subject to nearly 200 doping tests before being cleared to compete in Paris.

U.S. Host Cities in Jeopardy?

Because of the doping scandals, U.S. lawmakers may consider cutting funding for WADA, worth more than $3 million per year, the most of any country. The United States, including the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, accused WADA of not disclosing findings on the Chinese swimmers.

In June, Phelps testified before Congress and said WADA had “fallen short” of attempts at fixing doping.

“There are still deeply rooted systemic problems that prove to be detrimental to the integrity of international sports and athletes’ rights to fair competition,” Phelps said.

WADA said it would take the USADA’s allegations to its independent compliance review committee, which could put at risk the country’s deal to host the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and the 2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

The International Olympic Committee, which created WADA, added an amendment in the U.S. host city contract for Salt Lake City 2034 that it could end its deal “in cases where the supreme authority of WADA is not respected.”