The competition isn’t the only thing he’s been smoking!
Olympic hero and 14-time gold medalist Michael Phelps has been caught cradling a glass bong – a scene so potentially damaging to his career that his representatives allegedly tried to buy off the British newspaper News Of The World in an attempt to kill the story, the paper reports.
The winner of a record eight gold medals last summer in Beijing was spotted knocking back shots and chugging beers at a house party at the University of South Carolina in Columbia on Nov. 6, when a partygoer handed him the water pipe etched with red writing.
“He grabbed the bong and a lighter and knew exactly what to do,” a witness said of the swimming superstar, who was in town visiting a gal pal and South Carolina co-ed, Jordan Matthews.
“He looked just as natural with a bong in his hands as he does swimming in the pool. He was the gold medal winner of bong hits.”
The report allegedly made Phelps’ handlers so paranoid that they offered the paper an eye-popping deal to keep it from seeing the light of day – having Phelps pen a column for the paper for three years.
His camp also allegedly offered to host parties for the tabloid and push his sponsors to advertise with them.
“It’s seeing if something potentially very negative for Michael could turn into something very positive for the News of the World,” his spokesman, Clifford Bloxham, told the paper.
The scandal could be a major buzz kill for Phelps, whose agent, Peter Carlisle, has said Phelps could bag up to $100 million in endorsements.
The world record holder’s deals with Visa, PowerBar, AT&T Wireless and Speedo may all be in jeopardy.
During the two-day stay, the normally reserved Phelps was spotted partying hard with a flock of females.
“He arrived with a group of girls hanging all over him. Every girl wanted a piece of him and every guy wanted to be his best buddy,” the student told the paper.
“He couldn’t get enough of all the attention.”
This isn’t the first scandal for the golden boy, who was arrested in 2004 for driving under the influence near his home in suburban Baltimore, when he was 19. He was sentenced to 18 months probation and fined $250.
Phelps’ spokesman did not return repeated requests for comment.
tim.perone@nypost.com