Joseph Schooling, who made history by being the first athlete from Singapore to win a gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, was suspended from the Southeast Asian Games for using cannabis.
The Olympic swimmer from Singapore used the social network Instagram to apologize publicly for an action that could damage his career.
Source: josephschooling/Instagram
“I relented in a moment of weakness after going through a very difficult period in my life,” the post reads. The athlete refers to the death of his father, in November of last year, and the sports pressure.
The news was reported by Singapore’s Ministry of Defense on Tuesday, and later published by the BBC, which said that Schooling had passed the usual urine tests, but that he himself admitted to having consumed the drug during the break from his military servicewhich would allow him to participate in the competition in Southeast Asia.
As a result, the athlete will undergo supervised urine tests for the next six months. If there are positive tests, may have to serve nine years in prison in a military barracks.
Amanda Lim, who also represents Singapore in swimming, revealed that she also used cannabis but, following an investigation, only received a warning from the Singapore Bureau of Narcotics.
Source: Observadora
