"People called me a cheater throughout my career" - When Michael Phelps explained why he subjected himself to extra drug testing at Olympics

Michael Phelps once revealed that he was called a cheater throughout his career and to stop the allegations, he subjected himself to extra drug testing. The American swimmer was the most dominant and the fastest during his career, winning an astonishing 28 Olympic medals.

Phelps made his Olympic debut at the 2000 Games and though he didn't win any medals then, he would go on to win eight including six gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He broke one world, two national, and three Olympic records at the event.

Ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Phelps held individual world records in 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 200m IM, and 400m IM, and while he was never found doping, the allegations were always thrown at the American due to his unreal talent.

Speaking in an interview in August 2024, the 39-year-old admitted that he was called a cheater during his career but subjected himself to extra drug testing to get rid of the allegations ahead of the 2008 Games.

“People called me a cheater throughout my career. I subjected myself to do more testing – blood and urine – weekly. Why? For the reason that I could say I’m not cheating and I am clean and here are the results," he said [via ESPN].

The Baltimore Bullet reiterated that he won his 23 Olympic gold medals in a clean way and that it was possible.

"I did it the clean way. I won 23 Olympic gold medals the clean way. It can be done," Michael Phelps added.

The American swimmer has been a staunch critic of doping and has called for a lifetime on athletes who get caught cheating.

“If you test positive, you should never be allowed to come back and compete again, cut and dry. I believe one and done," he stated.

Sometime back, Phelps also attended a U.S. House panel and spoke about the Chinese swimmers' doping controversy that surfaced this year.

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"If we continue to let this slide any farther, the Olympic games might not even be there" - Michael Phelps on Chinese swimmers' doping scandal

The Olympic Gala Of Champions: Michael Phelps (Source: Getty)

The swimming world was taken by surprise after a report by the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD in April 2024 claimed that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) before the Tokyo Olympics but were allowed to compete nonetheless.

Speaking about the scandal to a U.S. House panel in June, Michael Phelps called for stricter doping regulations, which if not done could threaten the Olympic Games.

"If we continue to let this slide any farther, the Olympic games might not even be there," he said [via NPR.org]

The 23-time Olympic champion also added that he would like to see a lifetime ban on those swimmers.

"Right now people are just getting away with everything. How is that possible? It makes no sense. I’m one [who believes] if someone does test positive, I’d like to see a lifetime ban," Michael Phelps added.

However, despite Phelps' protest, very little was done about the case with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepting China's explanation that swimmers had tested positive after eating contaminated meat at a team hotel. Eleven of those swimmers competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics.