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FACT BRIEF

Did Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps get a lighter penalty than runner Sha'Carri Richardson for smoking marijuana?

By Alan Duke
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NO

Michael Phelps was suspended from competition for three months, while Sha'Carri Richardson was suspended for one month.

The timing of the suspensions, however, made the impact of the suspensions seem harsher for Richardson and prompted social media complaints of a double standard.

Phelps' suspension came six months after he won a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Richardson delivered a stunning 10.86-second performance in the women's 100-meter race at the U.S. track and field trials in Oregon, but testing by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency revealed the presence of a substance found in marijuana. This invalidated her performance at the trials, making her ineligible to compete in the 100-meter competition at the Tokyo Olympics in July.

She can still be selected for the U.S. women's 4x100 meter relay, since that competition starts in August after the suspension ends.

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
US Anti-Doping Agency US Track & Field Athlete Sha’Carri Richardson Accepts Sanction for Anti-Doping Rule Violation
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.