Michael Phelps quickly became reacquainted with drug testers with his first swims since the 2012 Olympics this spring, logging at least eight tests under the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s program in the second quarter of 2014.
No U.S. athlete was tested more in that three-month stretch by USADA’s documented statistics*. Phelps has 11 documented tests under USADA’s program for the year, trailing only Olympic silver medalist distance runner Galen Rupp, who has 12.
Rupp was tested a USADA documented statistics record 28 times in 2013.
*USADA’s quarterly statistics are interesting to break down, but they are not complete drug-testing histories. USADA stats documented 2,800 drug tests for the first six months of 2014, but the total number of tests was 4,808. That’s quite a difference and must be taken into account.
Here’s USADA’s disclaimer on its documented statistics:*What the results do and do not include*
This search includes all in- and out-of-competition test sessions on U.S. athletes conducted under USADA’s Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American, and Parapan American movements testing program. This search will also include test sessions conducted on U.S. athletes training internationally by other testing entities when the request for the test session was made by USADA. This search will not yield results conducted on U.S. athletes by other testing entities, if the test session was not requested or initiated by USADA, or test sessions conducted by USADA at the request of other sport organizations, events, international federations, or individuals. Because of these exclusions, the total numbers below are less than the numbers reported as USADA’s total testing numbers located here. This resource is intended to be used to determine the number of times USADA has organized a test on an individual athlete and is not an accurate representation of USADA’s total testing numbers or the total number of anti-doping tests an athlete will undergo by other and all testing and sport organizations.
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Notes from the second-quarter statistics released Wednesday:
*Phelps and cyclists Jacob Rathe and Tom Zirbel led the counts with eight documented tests each.
*Rupp led all track and field athletes with seven. Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, Olympic medalist sprinters who have failed drug tests, were tested five and three times, respectively.
*Norah Flatley and Lauren Hernandez, two gymnasts born in 2000, have each been tested at least once this year (in the first quarter). They are among the athletes trying to become the first Olympians born in the 2000s.
When Olympians retire, they generally withdraw from drug-testing pools. Phelps did that after the London Olympics, then re-entered the pool in 2013, knowing he had to wait nine months from the point he re-entered drug testing to be able to compete again. The waiting period for some other sports, such as gymnastics and figure skating, is at least six months.
*Olympic champion gymnast Jordyn Wieber, who hasn’t competed since London 2012 and recently said she is still deciding her competitive future, has not had a documented test since the third quarter of 2013. The other four members of the Fierce Five have been tested at least once in that span.
*2010 Olympic champion figure skater Evan Lysacek, who hasn’t competed since Vancouver 2010 and recently said his career is coming to an end, has not had a documented test yet this year.
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