Ten years ago, a photo that showed an athlete like Michael Phelps apparently getting high at a party probably would have resulted in considerable fallout.
That might still happen to the athlete who has won the most gold medals in Olympic history, who has millions of dollars in endorsements riding on the outcome. But his admission that he used "bad judgment" has been greeted mostly with forgiveness, humor or a shrug of the shoulders.
Four of his sponsors - Speedo, Omega, Hilton Hotels and PureSport - released statements yesterday saying they still support him, even if they don't condone his actions, and will continue a business relationship with him. No sponsor has publicly tried to drop Phelps as an endorser. Even Phelps' Facebook page was bombarded with messages of support, with many of his younger fans expressing frustration than he even felt compelled to apologize.
That's frustrating to Dr. Gary Wadler, a professor of medicine at New York University and a key adviser to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), one person who isn't interested in seeing it so quickly dismissed. He said he was disappointed because he regards any use of illegal drugs as antithetical to the spirit of sports.
"For probably the most accomplished athlete in the history of the Olympics to be doing that, I found it very disheartening," Wadler said. "Any sanctioning aside, the message it sent is very sad to me."
Mike Gimbel, a substance-abuse expert who served as the Baltimore County drug czar for 23 years, said he has already grown a little frustrated with how casually some people are dismissing it as no big deal.
"The facts are, pot is the No. 1 drug that sends kids to drug treatment in Maryland," Gimbel said. "It's really out of control because the drug has gotten so much stronger than it use to be. To make it that it's an issue about pot is the wrong approach, I think. It's not. It's an issue of Michael's judgment and decision-making."
Society's changing views
But for the most part, Wadler and Gimbel are swimming against public opinion.
"It's something that seems to happen almost every day to a professional athlete," said Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing consultant for San Francisco-based Baker Street Partners. "For a 23-year-old kid who has been in heavy training for most of his life to want to blow off some steam, people are going to be pretty forgiving of that."
