Michael Phelps is cheating.

Jeez guys...The OP is clearly joking. I thought it was hilarious, and even funnier when the joke flew over all your heads and you see the Americans here get all defensive...Lighten up!

This Is Utter Bulls@*% ! Take A Look At All The Athletes From All Different Countries That Listened To Their I Pods . Different Music For Different Athletes Gives Them Inspiration And Helps Them To Concentrate , Plain And Simple . Phelps Is A Great Athlete And Highly Disiplined in his training. The Fact Is That Some people Don't Like The Fact That U.S.A Is Beating China At A lot Of Events . And If You Want To Talk About Cheating , What About China Using Under Age Girls In The Floor Games ? And Just One More Thing , Did Anyone Notice That When Phelps Was Awarded His First Gold Medal , And They Started Playing The American Anthem , They Ended It Abruptly At The "LAND OF THE FREE And THE HOME OF THE BRAVE"? Seems That The Commies Don't Want Any Mention Whatsoever Of Free And Brave To Inspire Their "SUBJECTS"/ SLAVES !

Originally posted by ANoNyMiKE

I was interested in giving qualifications a shot in 2004 for powerlifting but would've failed the test at the time.

I would think swimming would be a fairly clean sport, anabolic steroids would be a disadvantage, reducing stamina, increasing heart rate and causing agonizing blood flow to muscles during any kind of endurance work.

I didn't quote your whole post because a lot of what you said was a matter of opinion and quite arguable for or against. However, I think it's necessary to clarify two points. The first affects your credibility, because "powerlifting" was not an Olympic discipline in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Weightlifting was (and is), but it is quite another discipline and as I'd expect you know, operates under different rules from powerlifting, which even employs some different apparatus. Personally I'd like to see powerlifting included in the Olympic program, but the point is, if you were interested in giving qualification a shot for 2004 then you must have known that the sport you mentioned had no qualification events because it wasn't on the Olympic program...

Here is a list of all sports that were included in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. Powerlifting is not there. In fact, if you consult this list of all Summer Olympic Sports, you'll see that powerlifting has never been part of the Olympic program, so it's just as well you didn't try to qualify!

Now on to what you said about steroids and swimming. I am surprised that you are unaware of the controversy that has raged for years about the use of anabolic steroids to enhance performance in competitive sports. Simply put, some of the performances a few decades ago -- and which I well remember -- were so extraordinary that steroid use was strongly suspected even at the time. The East German women's swimming team was a prime example. Some of these women had upper-body muscular development that would make Michael Phelps look like a weakling, and they could not have achieved such results without some kind of -- ummm -- "help".

Fortunately the truth finally came out. Former coaches of the East German athletes issued a signed statement that many of their charges were using anabolic steroids. You can read about it in this New York Times article. Of course, it was not only the East Germans who were using such methods. Just do a search of "Soviet athletes" with "steroids" and throw in "Olympics" if you wish, and you will find quite a few hits. Well, my search on Google returned 146,000 results for those keywords. If you delete "Soviet" you'll see that steroid use wasn't just confined to the old Soviet Bloc nations.

While there are definitely adverse side effects associated with the misuse of anabolic steroids, there is no question that they have a significant performance-enhancing effect -- which is one of the reasons why they are banned for competing athletes. I would expect that these days, most athletes would not want to risk taking them as their presence in the body is readily detectable with modern testing methods; on the other hand (as other posters have pointed out), there may well be other drugs/performance enhancers out there which could produce above-normal results without causing such telltale bodily changes as steroids do. There is also the fact the misuse of anabolic steroids can lead to fatal medical conditions. In the old days, some countries apparently considered athletes as expendable and there are coaches who have said as much. (This is even mentioned in the article referenced above.) I'd like to think that this attitude has changed for the better to some degree but that may be wishful thinking...

In response to the OP's statement, I have my doubts that Michael Phelps "cheated". Frankly he is just the best until another, even better athlete comes along... As an Aussie I can recall swimmers of my nation way back to Shane Gould who were also virtually unbeatable in their own time but whose records have long since been surpassed. Such is the nature of competitive sport. The fact that Phelps won one of his events by a mere 1/100th of a second and picked up a gold in one of the team relays only due to the enormous efforts of another team member suggests to me that he is clean.

Edited to add a few extra comments.



[edit on 20/8/08 by JustMike]

I tried several times to add a bit of extra detail about steroid use but it wouldn't go. (Still said I'd edited it though. ) So I just wanted to add that in respect of using illegal methods to enhance performance, perhaps Marion Jones' steroid use is a good example from recent times. I have mentioned her only because she was a very high-profile athlete and one who served as a role model for so many young, aspiring athletes, but who cheated and then had the gall to lie about it for years. For me, her nationality is not the issue; her conduct most certainly is: I would despise her actions just as much if she were from my own country, and in equal measure to my admiration for Michael Phelps and all other athletes whose honest achievements -- medals or no medals -- are worthy of our respect.

Mike

Edit: I forget to mention in my previous post that the the former East German coaches issued their signed statement in 1991, so this information has been out there for a long time.

[edit on 20/8/08 by JustMike]

Some athletes think running is harder, but to be honest I think smimming is, with running you don't have the risk of swallowing water, and water adds that head pressure thing when you go below it and can make you dizzy. So to be able to do well at swimming is probably harder to run on land. I know running takes a lot of muscle power but swimming has alot of things that get up your nose like water of course.

Have I added to this debate another new start off point?

I started the thread about China...I'm English. If I thought an American was cheating I would most certainly say it.

Whilst he most certainly isn't the best looking fellow He is an amazing swimmer that we just can't beat.

I didn't think Phelps cheated either but after checking out this Web site, I don't know anymore. It doesn't seem like such a big stretch, considering the photos and some of the facts I wasn't aware of before. Everyone should check out the photos in the "Darn Evidence" section.

www.100thofasecond.com...

All these years life and experience have taught me one thing.
If you cheat make sure you don't get caught cause if you do then you are a cheater.
I give the benefit of the doubt to any top athlete but lets face it people:

World records are breaking every 2-4 years. The human race don't evolve that fast.
Equipment , technology and drugs do.
Are u really under the false impression that worlds TOP athletes able to to perform superbly make it with just hard work?
If you do then prolly you live in another planet and have no idea how the multi billion dollar sport industry works. Like any other industry (OIL, Weapon, Pharmaceutical etc) it is based on deceit and exploitation of the humans.
But then again most of you have no idea what i am talking about.

Ignorance is bliss.

Cocaine, the breakfast of champions.