Junya Koga, a Rio Olympic relay swimmer and 2009 World champion in the 100m backstroke, failed two March drug tests for banned “muscle-building” substances and has been kicked off the Japan national team, according to Japanese media.
“I feel ashamed, miserable and frustrated,” Koga said in a Wednesday news conference, according to Agence France-Presse. “I couldn’t believe it — I thought it was some mistake.”
The 30-year-old said the substances could have come from a supplement. He appealed to the World Anti-Doping Agency, according to AFP.
“I never took the substance detected intentionally,” Koga said, according to the report. “But I’m responsible for proving that. To those who support me, I’m deeply sorry.”
Koga was a surprise gold medalist in 2009 at the famous super-suit world championships with 43 world records (though Koga merely lowered the meet record in the semifinals and final). Aaron Peirsol, who had won three straight world titles and two straight Olympic titles in the 100m back, was eliminated in the semifinals.
Koga made one Olympic team, as part of Japan’s 4x100m freestyle relay that placed eighth in Rio. Last year, he took world championships silver in the 50m backstroke, which is not an Olympic event.
Michael Phelps was hanging at the pool on Tuesday.
No, he’s not planning another comeback.
He’s got a bigger goal to tackle.
Mental health.
After revealing the depths of his depression — and even thoughts of suicide after his second drunken-driving arrest — Phelps is hoping to make a difference for those who are dealing with similar issues.
The 23-time Olympic gold medalist announced a partnership with Talkspace, which provides online therapy, and said he considers it a higher calling than anything he ever did as a swimmer.
“Somebody told me yesterday about his daughter going through a very, very deep depression and not really wanting to be alive,” Phelps said in an interview with The Associated Press. “She read stories about me opening up. He told me how much that helped her. For me, that’s way bigger than ever winning gold medals. The chance to potentially save a life, to give that person an opportunity to grow and learn and help someone else, there’s nothing better in life.”
Despite his unprecedented success as an athlete, Phelps went through plenty of dark moments.
His first DUI arrest came when he was just 19, a few months after he won six gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was briefly suspended after a picture emerged of him smoking from a marijuana pipe after his record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games. He struggled to get motivated heading into the 2012 Olympics.
But his low point came in 2014, after he abandoned retirement to compete in a fifth Olympics only to be arrested again for driving under the influence. He checked into an Arizona rehab clinic and finally realized just how much he was hurting — so much so, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go on living.
“I thought it would make things easier,” Phelps recalled. “I almost felt like it would be better for everybody if I wasn’t there. But the more I thought about it, I wanted to find a different route. I wanted to see if I could find some help. I wanted to see if I could get better.”
Phelps said he’s in a much better place these days. He’s happily married and living in suburban Phoenix with two small children, 2-year-old Boomer and 3-month-old Beckett. He’s satisfied with his career, saying there’s nothing left to accomplish at the pool.
But there are times that he struggles with depression and anxiety.
He figures it will be that way for the rest of his life.
“I still go through times that are very challenging. I do break down and maybe have a bad day, where I’m not in a good mental state,” Phelps said. “I understand that. It’s who I am. I guess that will always be something that’s a part of me.”
He hopes that his deal with Talkspace, which helps connect those in need with therapists through a variety on online conduits, will help to remove some of the stigma associated with mental health — especially for those who are reluctant to seek out help in person or may not have the financial means.
Phelps said mental health is especially important when suicide rates are on the rise and a rash of school shootings have rocked the United States.
“I feel like with all the issues we have in this world, this is something where I can truly make significant impact,” he said.
The 32-year-old Phelps has kept himself in good condition since Rio. He rides a bike nearly every day and still works out at the pool at least twice a week. When he stepped on the scales Monday, he weighed 192 pounds — 3 pounds less than he was at his last Olympics.
“Could I come back? Yes,” he said. “I think it would be even easier than it was in 2014 (when he officially ended his first attempt at retirement). I’m in better shape now than I was then.”
But, with those tantalizing words, Phelps quickly struck down any thought of returning to competitive swimming.
He simply doesn’t have any motivation to add to his record haul.
“Would I like to break a world record? Yeah, obviously,” Phelps said. “But I also know what I did to prepare for Rio. I thought I did a pretty damn good job of getting myself ready to go. I didn’t want any what-ifs 20 years down the road. Twenty years down the road, I won’t have that. I’ll be able to say I was happy with how I finished my career. I was happy to be able to have my family there, to have my first-born there to watch. I’ll have those memories forever.
“All good things must come to an end eventually. That was the best way to go out.”
SEATTLE (AP) — Olympic swimmer Ariana Kukors Smith sued USA Swimming on Monday, alleging the sport’s national governing body knew her former coach sexually abused her as a minor and covered it up.
Kukors Smith filed the lawsuit in Superior Court in Orange County, California. She alleges Sean Hutchison, who began coaching her at a swim club near Seattle, groomed her for sexual abuse when she was 13, started touching and kissing her when she was 16 and engaging in sexual activity with her when she was 17.
Hutchison has denied the allegations and has not been charged with a crime.
Kukors Smith also is suing longtime Olympic coach Mark Schubert, saying he failed to report “a reasonable suspicion of child abuse or endangerment.”
Kukors Smith, the 2009 World champion in the 200m individual medley who placed fifth in that event at the 2012 Games, told reporters that “by doing nothing,” USA Swimming “enabled Sean Hutchison to abuse me for a decade.”
USA Swimming hired a private investigator to look into rumors of a relationship between the two in 2010. The organization said it closed the investigation without finding any misconduct after they and others denied the relationship.
The lawsuit says top USA Swimming officials knew in 2005 of allegations of Hutchison having inappropriate relationships with underage swimmers, including Kukors Smith, who was then 16.
Top officials at the governing body, according to the lawsuit, also manipulated a background screening system to shield coaches accused of abuse.
“Those at USA Swimming need to change the culture of protecting predator coaches over young and vulnerable athletes such as myself,” Kukors Smith said.
