Michael Phelps testifies before Congress about antidoping measures

Phelps testified Tuesday before a congressional hearing on improving antidoping measures, delivering the message that he doesn’t believe the Olympics and other competitions are clean and that athletes don’t believe in the testing system that’s in place.

Phelps, who has won 28 Olympic medals, said athletes get “disillusioned” when they see others cheat, and he asked the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations to help “ensure the system is fair and reliable.”

Phelps testified alongside shot-putter Adam Nelson, U.S. Anti-Doping Association CEO Travis Tygart, World Anti-Doping Association deputy director general Rob Koehler and International Olympic Committee medical and scientific director Richard Budgett.

Nelson in 2013 was awarded a 2004 Olympic gold medal when Ukrainian Yuriy Bilonog retroactively tested positive for a banned substance.

Nelson told the story about how he received his medal from a U.S. Olympic Committee official in the food court of the Atlanta airport.

Phelps, who has won more Olympic medals than any other athlete, said he was stunned to learn that though he was drug-tested 13 times leading to the Rio Olympics, 1,913 athletes in 10 “high-risk” sports were not tested at all leading to the Games.