In an August 13 blog post for the Baltimore Sun Olympics coverage blog "From Baltimore to Beijing," sports columnist Rick Maese posted a complaint by an Israeli doctor accusing gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps of doping.
Phelps's drug of choice: rocking out on his iPod before a swim.
I kid you not.
To be fair to the Sun, Maese posted the letter from Dr. Alexei Koudinov without comment, but given the Sun's liberal biases and the fact that as a Towson, Maryland, native Phelps's hometown paper is the Sun, it's rather ridiculous to give Koudinov's argument the time of day. Koudinov's argument in a nutshell:
Did you notice that Michael Phelps wears earphones and is listening music just before his every Olympic start, at Beijing's Olympiad Water Cube pool deck, be it finals or semifinals? I first noticed that before his first gold swim on August 10: Phelps removed earphones 2 minutes before the start, and he was the only swimmer who worn earphones at the pool deck. Intriguing scientific evidence testifies: Listening to music improves blood oxygen capacity and is a performance enhancement.
[...]
Well, one doesn't have to be an expert on WADA policies, as the scientific evidence provided herein enforces all to take WADA code as is. The Prohibited List 2008 of The World Anti-Doping Code reads:
PROHIBITED METHODS
Article M1. ENHANCEMENT OF OXYGEN TRANSFER
The following are prohibited:
2. Artificially enhancing the uptake, transport or delivery of oxygen...
Straightforward ruling results in a straightforward conclusion: Listening to music through earphones before the start is in line with other measures prohibited. Therefore, Phelps' Beijing swimming golds is faked and should go to others who battle for it fairly.
