Michael Phelps might be in the hot seat for his pics with Louis Vuitton

Although he’s sitting in a cold bathtub with an awkward pose, the most crowned Olympic champ Michael Phelps might as well be sitting in the hot tub as his leaked photos with Louis Vuitton violate a very important IOC rule.

The International Olympic Committee’s Rule 40 states: athletes can’t promote any non-Olympic sponsors from July 18 to Aug 15.

Louis Vuitton was planning on releasing the photo spread on August the 16th, of when it would’ve been alright to, but looks like the photos have been leaked and punishments for the rule violation ranges from fines to a stripping of medals. If the worse comes to the worse, he could be stripped from his medals from the London games.

Rule 40 states “a competitor or a team may lose the benefit of any ranking obtained in relation to other events at the Olympic Games at which he or it was disqualified or excluded; in such case the medals and diplomas won by him or it shall be returned to the IOC.”

Although it’s not the most likely thing to happen to him, it’s still an outcome that I doubt many wish to see happen.

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