[Mr Andrews]

Michael Phelps could be in hot water -- not the cold bathtub he appears to be in -- for his recent photo shoot with the French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton.
Photos of Phelps taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz were leaked on the Internet late last week, violating the International Olympic Committee's controversial Rule 40, which states athletes can't promote any non-Olympic sponsors from July 18 to Aug. 15. Read the full article here.

[FuXA8nQM]

No way will he loose his medals. Some jackass leaked the photos but not Phelps or his people. He isn't stupid.

[Hftqdxpm]

This is a ridiculous non-story. Really shoddy journalism on the part of Chris Chase.

[HRS1H7gO]

Is it? Considering your post in another thread about this issue, it could be something - I don't think he could actually lose his medals (would the IOC really do that?!) but I could see him getting a fine.

[margoaroyo]

They couldn't be contemplating rescinding his medals! That would be a public relations disaster for the Olympic Games in general, not just the American team and for Phelps. Nobody will take any medal winners seriously next time around.

What idiot released the pictures early?

[UpperMan]

Is it? Considering your post in another thread about this issue, it could be something - I don't think he could actually lose his medals (would the IOC really do that?!) but I could see him getting a fine.

The IOC isn't going to go after Michael Phelps over pictures taken at an indeterminate time, released by someone other than Michael Phelps, and not as part of any official ad campaign. By the logic of that blogger, any Olympic athlete who has a never before seen baby pic released during the Olympics showing a non-sponsor brand could get fined.

Rule 40 is designed to censor and suppress the tweets and social media output of the participating athletes, who were soundly warned by the IOC to not tweet or upload any pictures of non-sponsors. The silly rule has already done its damage in keeping athletes from freely interacting with people online during the games. There's really no need to make up any additional accusations against the IOC.