Swimming Phenomenon Michael Phelps Seen Inhaling Marijuana from a Bong, Acknowledge’s Behavior as "Regrettable"

UPDATE

Michael Phelps has acknowledged “regrettable” behavior and “bad judgment” after a photo in a British newspaper showed him smoking marijuana.

In a statement released to, the swimmer who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, conceded the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World. Shameful. Simply shameful. So, when Kobe Bryant was accused of raping a young lady a few years ago, he lost his endorsements. Michael Phelps should lose his endorsements. Gone is that wholesome, youthful and decent image.

Imagine if Jamaican thunderbolt Usain Bolt was caught with smoking marijuana? It would be all over the news. But wait, America’s golden boy, has allegedly been caught in a very compromising position. According to Britain’s News of the World, Phelps was seen in a photo smoking from a bong. No! Say it ain’t so.

For those of you who feign ignorance, a bong is a water pipe normally used for smoking marijuana. The alleged photo was taken at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where Phelps was visiting a female student who he was secretly seeing. The paper’s anonymous source relates that Phelps partied hard each night he was there, which is not out of keeping with other reports of the Olympian since his swimming triumphs.

I don’t know if this picture was doctored, but it’s a damaging one for Michael Phelps. He portrayed such a wholesome image that this has undoubted become a PR nightmare for him. Well, I guess we now see what he does in his spare time. Weed. I wonder what his next speech to be given to school children will be about? Ridiculous. He ought to lose some of his endorsements for this latest revelation.

Filed under: Bong, Jamaica, Michael Phelps, Smoking Marijuana, Usain Bolt

Carl Lewis Calls For Scrutiny of Jamaica’s Sprint Sensation Usain Bolt, Is there Some Jealousy Afoot?

I cannot believe that there are some people in the United States who are still up-in-arms about Usain Bolt’s hat-trick at the Beijing Olympics. Well, has-been Carl Lewis is the latest US athlete to criticize Bolt. Doesn’t this seem suspect? Just because the U.S. track team self-destructed, nobody else could have won fairly, in Carl Lewis’ eyes. This smacks of jealousy and hypocrisy to me.

Of all the people, Carl Lewis is seeking his 10 minutes in the spotlight. Didn’t he win nine Olympic medals? Did anyone accuse him of doping? Oh yeah, he was accused and was allowed to compete in the 1988 Games in Seoul having been cleared by the IAAF after being accused of testing positive for banned stimulants. How quickly do we forget how it feels to be wrongfully accused of doping. So, now I wonder, was he ever doped up like Marion Jones and he just had something more sophisticated at the time? He said that he was not singling out Bolt and also questioned the performance of Jamaica’s female sprinters. Yes, after they routed the Americans. Let me add, that the IOC targeted the Jamaica sprinters for blood-testing when they were in Beijing and none of them tested positive.

In an incendiary interview in Sports Illustrated, Lewis said: “When people ask me about Bolt I say he could be the greatest athlete of all time. But for someone to run 10.03 one year and 9.69 the next, if you don’t question that in a sport that has the reputation it has right now, you’re a fool. Period.”Carl Lewis, you are an even bigger fool to spread that kind of falsehood.

Like many others, Lewis pointed to Jamaica’s perceived lack of testing as the foundation for his suspicion. “I’m proud of America right now because we have the best random and most comprehensive drug-testing program. Countries like Jamaica do not have a random program, so they can go months without being tested. No one is accusing Bolt, but don’t live by a different rule and expect the same kind of respect. How dare anybody feel that there shouldn’t be scrutiny, especially in our sport?”The point is, they were tested, perhaps, more than any other athletes at the games and nothing was found.

Lewis also expressed his anger that Antonio Pettigrew, the American who testified this year to doping when part of the United States Olympic title-winning 4 x 400 metres relay team in 2000, had kept his job as a coach.Yes, pick the speck out of your own eyes before you look at another. Herb Elliott, the Jamaica team doctor and a member of the IAAF antidoping commission, accused the US of peddling “condescending crap” at the Olympics. “They still think we don’t know anything down in Jamaica,” he said. As I have written, track and field is ingrained in the culture of Jamaica. Children start running on the island at an early age, so this level of success is nothing new. Carl Lewis needs to go back under rock from whence he came. Not everyone cheats. You know, this is funny. Michael Phelps has won a myriad of gold medals at the Olympics and I have yet to hear one person insinuate that he cheated.

Filed under: Antonio Pettigrew, Carl Lewis, Marion Jones, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt

Usain ‘Lightning’ Bolt and Jamaican Men’s 4x100M Relay Team Win, Set World Record

Beijing and the world has been struck by lightning–Usain “Lightning” Bolt. This time he had company– Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter and Asafa Powell. They demolished the competition and set a new world record. With Usain Bolt running third and Asafa Powell as the anchor, their time of 37.10 seconds broke the previous world record of 37.40.

The Jamaican quartet eclipsed the old 400 relay mark of 37.40 set by the United States at the Barcelona Olympics in the 1992 and tied by the U.S. at the world championships a year later. Bolt added that to the records he set in winning the 100m (9.69) and 200m (19.30) in Beijing.The Jamaicans were nearly a full second faster than relay silver medalists Trinidad and Tobago, which finished in 38.06. Japan took the bronze in 38.15.

“Lightning” Bolt raced to his third gold medal and third world record, essentially cementing his name in the annals of the Olympics as one of the greatest sprinters of all time. He, along with Michael Phelps, are the dominant athletes in the Beijing Olympics. Bolt has stolen the show in the second week of the Games with his dazzling victories in the 100 and 200 meters and his theatrical celebrations. Yes, many have said that his celebrating was over the top, but let me remind people of the great Cassius Clay, Ali, who boasted that he “floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee!” Ali went on to make history on so many levels. So, let’s leave the trash-talking about Usain Bolt along the way. The guy, like Phelps, is a phenomenon! Nice mon, nice. Yes mi frien’ a fi wi time now mon! Big up Jamaica and big the women’s 4x100m relay team. Ah suh it go sometimes! Ooonu did good, mon. Real good. Ah proud a oonu suh till!

Filed under: Asafa Powell, Dwight Thomas, Michael Frater, Nesta Carter, Usain Bolt

Veronica Campbell Takes Gold Medal In 200M, Bolt Criticized by IOC Head for Lack of Respect

Defending Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown won gold for the 200m race, essentially routing Allyson Felix of the United States in 21.74 seconds. Reggae music filled the stadium as Campbell-Brown celebrated with her country’s flag, much the way Usain Bolt did with his world record-setting wins in the 100 and 200 and the way the Jamaican women did when they swept the 100. Jamaica has made history as this marked the first time one country swept all four races at an Olympics since the United States did it in 1988. “Bolt set it off. After that, I just think the Jamaican camp went crazy,” said Jamaican third-place finisher Kerron Stewart. The Jamaican track stars left no doubt about who was first in these races. They not only won, they won leaving their competition way behind.

Campbell-Brown’s blowout made her the first woman to win back-to-back 200s since the 1980s. No man has ever repeated in the 200. Her 21.74 marked the fastest time in the women’s 200 in a decade and the fastest time recorded at sea level since the 1992 Barcelona Games. “What can you say?” Felix said. “A phenomenal time.”Felix won her second Olympic silver in this, a carbon copy of the finish at the Athens Games. “Deja vu, and not in a good way,” she said. She is one of the best runners in America and I have always respected her calm demeanor and her great attitude to the sport. Big up Allyson Felix!

It seems that dirtbag, Balco founder Victor Conte, who is currently behind bars from a doping scandal, is trying to cast doubt on the ability of the Jamaican runners. He said that he warned the World Anti-Doping Agency about a drugs supplier working with elite athletes and suggested eight months ago sending disguised drug testers to Jamaica. Is anybody listening to this criminal? Conte said he had no evidence of doping by any of the winners but noted that when sprint times “begin falling like rain, questions arise.” He said this was especially so when the record breakers came from Caribbean nations such as Jamaica where there was no independent anti-doping agency. Conte said Bolt’s 100 metres in 9.69 seconds was almost unbelievable. What he needs to realize is that not every athlete engages in doping. Not everyone is a Marion Jones, Andruw Pettigrew, Justin Gatlin and Tim Montgomery, to name a few. Take Michael Johnson, for instance, he shattered the 200m world record 12 years ago and was never a doper, so what’s wrong with the Jamaicans doing so well. For the record, track and field in ingrained in the Jamaican culture. Children there are exposed to the sport starting in elementary school. It is nothing new.

People should acknowledge the victories of these athletes much like they have done for swimming phenomenon Michael Phelps. I don’t hear Victor Conte talking about this young man’s unbelievable achievements at the Olympics. But the victory of the Jamaicans was yet another sign of the amazing depth being produced on the Caribbean island of 2.8 million people, a country that has never had trouble producing great athletes but has often had trouble keeping them there.

Separately, Usain Bolt was criticized by IOC chief Jacques Rogge for his antics on the track. He said that Bolt should show more respect to his fellow competitors. I’m sorry, but did anyone criticize Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin and others after they won big in the last Olympics? Call him what you want, Usain Bolt has made history in a major way. He is on par with the great Jesse Owens, Jamaican Donald Quarrie and Michael Johnson. Owens became one of the biggest names in the Olympics by winning four golds in the 1936 Berlin Games but Bolt’s 100 and 200 meters wins, both set in world record times, have earned him a place alongside the American, according to Rogge.

“Bolt is another dimension in sprint,” the International Olympic Committee president told international news agencies in an interview. “Bolt must be considered now the same way like Jesse Owens should have been in the ’30s. It is different in that Bolt has a bigger edge than Owens in his finals.””Bolt in a way — if he maintains that in the future — will bring a mark like Jesse Owens.” he said. Let me end this with some patois, directed at Jacques Rogge–“man shut yu clappers and go weh from deh.” “Nobody nah listen to yuh with yuh ignorant talk.” “Oonu just caan accept se sumady from likkle Jamaica suh large a China.” “Go weh bwoy and hold yuh corner!” “A fe wi time dis!”

Filed under: Jacques Rogge, Michael Johnson, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown

Jamaican Sprinters Subject to Excessive Drug Testing at Beijing Games

Track and field is one of the greatest symbols of pride to Jamaicans and it is rather bothersome to entertain the notion that it seems as though the Jamaican delegation is being subjected to excessive anti-doping tests. Apparently, top Jamaican Olympic team official, Don Anderson, has complained that unusually frequent anti-doping tests are upsetting preparations by his nation’s sprinters ahead of Friday’s opening races.

“We have never seen this level of testing,” Don Anderson, Jamaica’s delegation head, said in a telephone interview one day after men’s 100-meter gold medal contender Asafa Powell complained he has been excessively tested. “It could affect the performance of our athletes.” What is worrisome to me is that over the past seven days the Jamaicans have been tested 32 times. Somehow, it seems as though they are being profiled, but which country has a history of cheating in recent Olympics in track and field? Isn’t is the Americans? So why has Tyson Gay, according to news reports, been tested once?

Asafa Powell, who is part of a voluntary anti-doping program, said that the number of tests upset him.”They took blood – a lot of blood,” said Powell, adding he has been tested four times.
The IAAF has dismissed such complaints, arguing it’s only logical that medal contenders undergo a lot of tests. But is the same level of testing being done to all athletes?

Qualifying for the men’s 100 begins Friday; the final is Saturday. With Powell and world record-holder Usain Bolt, Jamaica has a shot at a one-two finish, though Tyson Gay of the United States is a strong contender. Bolt alone could haul in more gold medals than the whole Jamaican team brought home four years ago, when it won two races and five overall. He’s favoured to win the 200 and is in line for a golden triple if the strong sprint squad holds off the United States in the 4×100 relay.

In a conversation with a small group of U.S. reporters, IAAF president Lamine Diack praised the anti-drug work of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, including a voluntary testing program that has attracted several top athletes.

“You see your boy Tyson Gay saying ‘OK, I want to be a clean athlete. I’ll give you blood. I’m ready to do that to prove that we are clean,”‘ Diack said. Your boy? Is that how an official is supposed to speak, as though he was hanging with his homeboys?

The International Olympic Committee has made a point of going after dopers at the Beijing Games, increasing the number of tests to about 4,500 – up from 3,600 in Athens. More than 50 athletes already are missing these Olympics because of doping accusations.

The bulk of the drug-testing done from the weeks leading up to the Olympics, through the games and for a few weeks afterward is conducted by the IOC. However, the IOC gave the IAAF permission to continue its own blood-testing program through the Olympics, IAAF secretary general Pierre Weiss said Wednesday.

I don’t have a problem with the testing, because there has been too much incidents of doping by many athletes, notably, Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Andruw Pettigrew, among others. The bottom line is that the same level of scrutiny needs to be meted out to all the athletes and there should not be any allegations of profiling in the Olympics.

Filed under: Anti-doping, Asafa Powell, Marion Jones, Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt Sets New World Record in Men’s 100-Meter Dash

I generally stay away from writing about sports, but as a Jamaican by birth, I must give much respect to Usain “Thunderbolt” Bolt for setting a new record in the men’s 100-meter dash at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. He enjoyed prime conditions for racing, including a tailwind of 1.7 meters per second. Fellow Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell had set the record of 9.74 seconds about eight months ago.

According to the BBC, Bolt first attracted attention at the 2002 IAAF World Junior Field and Track Championships in Jamaica, winning the 200 meters and finishing second in the 400 meters and 1,600-meter relays. The runner was aiming to win the 200meters, and reportedly used the 100 meters as speed training for the 200 meters.

Bolt first broke the 20-second barrier in the 200 meters in 2004, finishing with a time of 19.93 seconds. He broke last year a Jamaican record that had stood for 36 years with a time of 19.75 seconds. Last year, he ran as an adult and finished second to Tyson Gay of the United States in the 200-meter dash in the Osaka world championships.

He then won the 100-meter dash in an invitational competition in Jamaica last month in 9.76 seconds. Sprinter Gay said, “He ran a perfect race. I`ve got to take my hat off to him.” At 6-feet-5, Bolt is taller than the six-foot Gay. The eye-popping new record has Bolt setting his sights on the Beijing Summer Olympics. He could pull off a sprint double, or two gold medals in two sprint events. Few runners have done so in the Olympics, including Jesse Owens in 1936 and Carl Lewis in 1984.

In September last year, Powell was the first to break 9.75 seconds, which had been thought to be unreachable. Armanin Hary of West Germany was the first to break the ten-second benchmark in 1960. Eight years later, Jim Hines of the United States lowered the mark to 9.95 seconds. Fifteen years later, fellow American Calvin Smith set the figure at 9.93. Runners, however, have gotten faster with the development of science and training methods.

So, I would like to congratulate Usain Bolt for a race well done and for setting a new world record. I expect great things from the Jamaican Track & Field team at the upcoming Olympics in China. The Jamaican team has always been formidable in every track and field meet in which they perform and they will continue to shine in this arena for years to come.

Filed under: Asafa Powell, Jamaica, track and field, Usain Bolt