Michael Phelps bong photo

“What a dope” claim British tabloid the News of the World. Phelps, the holder of 14 Olympic gold medals, was snapped sparking up big bong at a party…and he was no amateur apparently. Cue much fretting about Phelps’ endorsement deals and the four-year ban on competition that accompanies drug-taking.

Much ado about nothing perhaps but it looks like Phelps was desperate to suppress the image. The News of the World dutifully report that “Phelps’ aides went into a panic over our story and offered us a raft of extraordinary incentives not to run the bong picture.”