Michael Phelps Admits to Smoking Marijuana

Courtesy of the LA Times

A picture of Olympic gold-medalist swimmer, Michael Phelps, surfaced on the Internet today. The picture, taken at a November college party at the University of South Carolina, shows Phelps smoking out of a bong .

Phelps was notified last week that newspapers across the country had their hands on this picture and were going to publish it. After hearing this, Phelps had to set up "discussions" with his sponsors. So, basically he (or his publicist) had roughly about a week to prepare an apologetic statement for the public, simply because he was forced to; he was caught in an illegal act and there was proof. So, for me, this statement was just kind of expected. Who wouldn't release an apology after having this sort of picture on the Internet.

Phelps issued the following statement today:

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.''


Courtesy of CNN

Now, I think that Michael Phelps is a great athlete. He is young and has everything going for him. But how stupid could he have been?!

I would think that surely, being a widely known public figure as well as a young adult who knows that pictures are taken everywhere, he would be aware of the possibility of these pictures being shown to other people. He should know the risks of his actions having an impact on his career too, which also includes valuable endorsements that can be taken away from him (Speedo, Visa, Kellogg, AT&T, and Hilton to name a few).

This is occurring after a 2004 incident where Phelps was pulled over for a DUI. He had to serve an 18-month probation term.

So no matter how much 'spin' he or his publicists try to put on why he smokes marijuana, his label as a role model is no longer relevant. He has the drive and ambition to work hard and win six gold medals, yet he can't resist the urge to smoke some pot?

I guess it's a good thing we haven't seen him in an anti-drug commercial yet. Oh, the irony.