Michael Phelps, who was suspended from Team USA Swimming events for six months after a September DUI arrest, will not get to compete in the 2015 swimming world championships in Kazan, Russia.
Since Phelps has already completed the six-month ban, there was some hope that Phelps, 29, would get the green light to compete in Russia. However, Team USA decided not to reinstate him for the event.
“It's obviously very challenging and for me to not be able to compete at world championships,” Phelps said on Wednesday, reports USA Today. “I will be in full support of everything they do over there, and I wish them all the luck in Kazan.”
Phelps was arrested in September and announced that he would be entering a rehab program.
He had initially retired after the 2012 London Olympics, but announced in April 2014 that he would be coming out of retirement in the hopes of competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, not making it to the 2015 worlds championship meet could make it hard to tell if he still has something left in the tank. Reuters points out that his main rival, Ryan Lochte, will be competing in five events.
Phelps already has 18 Olympic gold medals and 22 Olympic medals in total.
image via INFphoto.com