Editing Mark Spitz (section)

==Olympic controversies==

===1972 medal podium incident===
In 1972, Spitz was accused of [[product placement]] during the medal ceremony. Following his victory in the 200-meter freestyle, Spitz carried his shoes and arrived barefoot to obtain his gold medal. He put them down as the American national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played. After the anthem, he picked up his shoes and waved to the crowd. The Soviet officials viewed this as product placement and complained to the IOC. When questioned by the IOC, Spitz explained that the gesture was innocent, the shoes were old and he was not paid. The IOC cleared him of any wrongdoing.<ref name="expectations"/>

===Issues with 2008 Summer Olympics===
Spitz has said that he felt snubbed by not being asked to attend the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] to watch [[Michael Phelps]] attempt to break his seven-gold-medal record: "I never got invited. You don't go to the Olympics just to say, I am going to go. Especially because of who I am. ...  I am going to sit there and watch Michael Phelps break my record anonymously? That's almost demeaning to me. It is not almost—it is."<ref name=snub/> Spitz added, "They voted me one of the top five Olympians of all time. Some of them are dead. But they invited the other ones to go to the Olympics, but not me," he said. "Yes, I am a bit upset about it."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hLnTiMa1nwi9qHodVSMCWbP2WBdQ |title=AFP: Spitz, once the star, upset over Beijing snub |date=August 10, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012075636/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hLnTiMa1nwi9qHodVSMCWbP2WBdQ |archive-date=October 12, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Spitz has stated that he has no hard feelings towards Phelps.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mark Spitz |url=http://www.mahalo.com/Mark_Spitz |publisher=Mahalo.com |access-date=January 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207173827/http://www.mahalo.com/Mark_Spitz |archive-date=February 7, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Mark Spitz Jul 2008.jpg|thumbnail|Mark Spitz, throwing first pitch at a baseball game (2008)]]

However, on August 14, 2008, Spitz appeared on NBC's ''[[Today (NBC program)|Today Show]]'' where he clarified his statement and his pride in Michael Phelps:

{{blockquote|It's about time that somebody else takes the throne. And I'm very happy for him. I really, truly am&nbsp;... I was working with a corporate sponsor who elected not to bring their US contingent over to China, and they piled on more work for me here in the United States, which was great. So I wasn't able to get to the Olympics and watch Michael in the first couple of days. And they thought, some of these reporters, that I was supposed to be invited by some entity, and I told them that that wasn't really the case, that doesn't happen that way. And so, I'm sort of disappointed that I wasn't there, but, you know, that interview somehow took a different turn, and I've done hundreds and hundreds of them and I've been true to form about the way I feel about Michael, and he's doing a great job for the United States and inspiring a lot of great performances by the other team members.<ref>{{cite web|last=Considine |first=Bob |url=https://www.today.com/news/mark-spitz-it-s-time-somebody-else-takes-throne-wbna26194898 |title=Spitz on Phelps: 'I'm rooting him on' – TODAY in Beijing |publisher=Today.com |date=August 14, 2008 |access-date=January 30, 2011}}</ref>}}

Also on August 14, 2008, in an interview aired on Los Angeles KNBC-4's morning news show, ''[[Today in L.A.]]'', Spitz was quoted saying he does believe that "Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic athlete ever."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/sports/article/mark_spitz_michael_phelps_is_the_greatest_olympic_athlete_ever_20080817 |title=Mark Spitz: Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic athlete ever |publisher=Jewish Journal|access-date= August 17, 2008}}</ref>

On August 15, 2008, as part of an interview on NBC, Spitz said that he felt Phelps's performance in the 100 fly in Beijing was "epic". Spitz paid this compliment to Phelps just two hours after his record-tying seventh gold medal during a live joint interview with [[Bob Costas]]:

{{blockquote|You know, Bob and Michael, I wondered what I was going to say at this monumental time, when it would happen and who I would say it to, and of course I thought I was going to say it to you for some time now. But, it's the word that comes to mind, "epic". What you did tonight was epic, and it was epic for the whole world to see how great you really are. I never thought for one moment that you were out of that race and contention, because I watched you at Athens win the race by similar margins, and 18 months ago at the World's by similar margins. And, you know, that is a tribute to your greatness. And now the whole world knows. We are so proud of you Michael here in America, and we are so proud of you and the way that you handle yourself, and you represent such an inspiration to all the youngsters around the world. You know, you weren't born when I did what I did, and I'm sure that I was a part of your inspiration, and I take that as a full compliment. And they say that you judge one's character by the company you keep, and I'm happy to keep company with you. And you have a tremendous responsibility for all those people that you are going to inspire over the next number of years, and I know that you will wear the crown well. Congratulations, Mike.<ref>"XXIX Summer Olympics, NBC, interview with Bob Costas, August 15, 2008</ref>}}

In 2015, Spitz allegedly claimed that he had seen an email from Omega, the official timekeeper, that Phelps had lost the closely contested [[Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre butterfly|100m butterfly final in 2008]].<ref name="SpitzOmega">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/swimming/11547958/Michael-Phelps-was-given-an-Olympic-gold-in-a-race-he-did-not-win-claims-Mark-Spitz.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/swimming/11547958/Michael-Phelps-was-given-an-Olympic-gold-in-a-race-he-did-not-win-claims-Mark-Spitz.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Michael Phelps was given an Olympic gold in a race he did not win, claims Mark Spitz|date=April 18, 2015|author=Rumsby, Ben |publisher=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He later claimed that his quote had been "misconstrued".<ref>[https://swimswam.com/mark-spitz-it-is-unfortunate-that-my-quote-was-misconstrued-regarding-phelps/ "Mark Spitz: 'It Is Unfortunate That My Quote Was Misconstrued' Regarding Phelps"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013121200/https://swimswam.com/mark-spitz-it-is-unfortunate-that-my-quote-was-misconstrued-regarding-phelps/ |date=October 13, 2016 }}, swimswam.com, April 21, 2015</ref>

===Views on drug testing===

Spitz has been consistent in his criticism of the two swimming world bodies, FINA and the IOC, in their incomplete attempts to keep drugs out of the sport. He has felt that not enough has been done to monitor and encourage drug-free participation. In 1998 he criticized FINA for its "embarrassing" attempts to stamp out drug abuse, urging them to test for all known drugs. In September 1999 Spitz said the IOC had the technology to test for a plethora of drugs but was refusing to do so because of some IOC member protests.<ref name="espn.go.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/classic/biography/s/spitz_mark.html |title=ESPN Classic – Spitz lived up to enormous expectations |work=ESPN  |access-date=January 30, 2011}}</ref>

During a radio interview in Australia, Spitz was quoted as saying "They don't want to test for everything because there's tremendous pressure from the television networks because they want the television to have athletic competitions with the world record holders there for the finals. They want the medals not to be tainted in their value of accomplishment by winning them, and it's all about ratings and commercial selling of time and about money. And an International Olympic Committee has got their hand in the pockets of the network television people, so there's a tremendous conflict of interest in what they should do and what they're doing."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s157350.htm |title=AM Archive – Champion swimmer attacks IOC over drug testing |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation  |date=July 31, 2000 |access-date=January 30, 2011}}</ref>

In August 2008, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that Spitz continued to discuss drug testing and was saying "the IOC has sponsors who demand a good show. Television pays the IOC for the rights to that good show, and its sponsors want that too. Drug news and drug distractions are not a good show. People are not going to tune in to see athletes have their medals taken away from them."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-sp-dwyre2-2008aug02,0,5162507.column?page=2 | work=Los Angeles Times | title=Spitz still a man apart, but not by own choice | first=Bill | last=Dwyre | date=August 2, 2008 | access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref>