Michael Phelps Caught Smoking Weed?

Michael Phelps, 14-time Olympic Gold Medal swimmer, with the record for most gold medals, has been called an All-American boy, the boy next door, and a "Golden Boy." Endorsements have already been forthcoming, but what now, after the British paper News of the World caught him on camera smoking weed?

The report by the paper not only had a picture of Phelps clearly partaking of marijuana via a bong, it cited an anonymous source who said:

"He was out of control from the moment he got there. If he continues to party like that I’d be amazed if he ever won any more medals again."

New-found celebrity has turned others into party animals, sometimes with disastrous results (witness Lindsay Lohan). The photo was apparently taken in November, when threats of a drug test were non-existent.

News of the World adds something still more disturbing than a photo of Phelps with marijuana: they were offered many incentives by a Phelps spokesperson to kill the story.

Phelps acknowledged that the photo of him smoking weed was real, saying to AP:

"I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment," Phelps said in the statement released by one of his agents. "I'm 23 years old and despite the successes I've had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again."

It's somewhat hard to believe that, based on other comments by News of the World's source:

"You could tell Michael had smoked before. He grabbed the bong and a lighter and knew exactly what to do. He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming in the pool. He was the gold medal winner of bong hits."

Besides the marijuana, Phelps was indulging in a lot of alcohol, and women. All the women wanted a piece of him.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." How about absolute celebrity?