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.

Nine of those swimmers won medals - several as part of relay teams - n Paris, leading British star Adam Peaty to gripe that the playing field was not even.

    • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
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      3 months ago

      Don’t ban the competition, ban doping being illegal.

      The ratings would be through the roof to watch some freak with more drugs than blood run a sub 8 second 100m right before his heart explodes.

      • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        I don’t think we should be promoting self harm for entertainment purposes.

        Don’t get me wrong, I would absolutely watch the Monster League game every Sunday, but it will guaranteed lead to huge swaths of athletes destroying their bodies for ratings. They already do this without destructive performance enhancers, we don’t need to encourage it to be worse.