Editing Mark Spitz (section)

===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>