Michael Phelps may be stripped of the four gold and two silver medals he won at this year's London Olympic Games!
Pictures of the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time posing for a Louis Vuitton campaign went viral on August 13, which raised a few eyebrows with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Why you ask? Well, according to Rule 40, no athlete is allowed to participate in non-Olympic marketing campaigns from July 18 to August 15, 2012.
The official IOC rule goes oon to state that:
"A competitor or a team may lose the benefit of any ranking obtained in relation to other events at the Olympic Games at which he or it was disqualified or excluded; in such case the medals and diplomas won by him or it shall be returned to the IOC."
According to Phelps' camp the pictures were leaked.
Phelps' agent confirmed that Phelps had not reviewed or permitted the use of the pictures, that were supposed to be released August 16.
In other words, since the pictures were leaked, no rules were broken, and Phelps' medals get to stay with him.
