One and done: Phelps wants lifetime doping bans
In the wake of a Chinese doping scandal, Michael Phelps doubled down Monday on his support for tougher sanctions -- including a lifetime ban for anyone who tests positive for a banned substance.
'One and done': Michael Phelps calls for lifetime doping bans
play- Associated Press
PARIS -- In the wake of a Chinese doping scandal, Michael Phelps doubled down Monday on his support for tougher sanctions -- including a lifetime ban for anyone who tests positive for a banned substance.
"If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again, cut and dry," Phelps said. "I believe one and done."
The World Anti-Doping Agency and World Aquatics have acknowledged that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The results were not made public until media reports surfaced this year, with both bodies accepting the Chinese explanation that the positive tests were caused by tainted food.
Michael Phelps says he believes once an athlete is caught doping, they should never be allowed to compete again. AP Photo/Matthias Schrader
Nine of those swimmers won medals -- several as part of relay teams -- in Paris, leading British star Adam Peaty to complain that the playing field was not even.
Phelps reiterated those sentiments, saying the Chinese swimmers who tested positive should not have been allowed to compete in either Tokyo or Paris -- or anywhere else, for that matter.
"If everybody is not going through that same testing, I have a serious problem because it means the level of sport is not fair and it's not even," he said. "If you're taking that risk, then you don't belong in here."
Uderstands the frustration of athletes such as Peaty, whose British team finished fourth in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay Sunday -- a race won by the Chinese.
"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," Phelps said. "It's not right. I stand for that and I will always stand for that."He has a suggestion for athletes who want to dodge the rules.
"Go ahead and go to the cheater games," he said. "Keep the Olympics about integrity."
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