Olympian Michael Phelps, in a recent interview, said that his expectations for the next year’s Olympics being substance-free is very less. He rated the Summer Games ‘four or five’ out of 10. The US swimmer, who retired in 2016
as the most decorated Olympian in history with 23 gold medals, said that he does not know if ever competed in a fair
competition, referring to performance-enhancing substance usage.

Also read: Sports in the time of the coronavirus pandemic

“I can honestly say that
throughout my whole entire career, I don’t know if I ever competed in a clean
field,” Phelps was quoted as saying in an interview with CNN Sports.

“I think there’s a lot of issues
out there and the fact that we’re not held on the same playing field is really
upsetting”, the US swimmer further said.

According to CNN, the 2012 Olympic
games, where Phelps won four gold medals, have been described as the dirtiest
games in history, with more than 130 athletes banned or disqualified for doping
offenses.

Also read: USOPC to not sanction athletes for protests during Olympics

Furthermore, the 2016 Rio Olympics reportedly
saw every one out of 100 athletes serving suspensions or having their medals
taken away.

Earlier in December, incumbent US
President Donald Trump announced that he has signed into a law the Rodchenkov
Anti-Doping Act, named after the whistle-blower Dr Grigory Rodchenkov who
brought into light the Russian doping scandal in 2016, the act was cleared by
the Senate in an unopposed manner.