Phelps suspended for 3 months for pot photo

Michael Phelps' return to competition for the first time since the Beijing Olympics is on hold. The swimming superstar has been suspended for three months and had his training stipend revoked by USA Swimming.

It's the latest complication for the 23-year-old Olympic great since a photo surfaced showing him inhaling from a marijuana pipe at the University of South Carolina last fall.

He also lost a high-profile sponsor Thursday when Kellogg Co. said it wouldn't renew its deal with Phelps that expires later this month.

Phelps recently resumed serious training in his hometown of Baltimore with the goal of qualifying for this summer's world championships in Rome. But the suspension will cut into his racing schedule.

"This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero," the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based national governing body said in a statement.

"Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust."

Phelps won a record eight gold medals in Beijing and returned to America as one of the world's most acclaimed athletes. He made headlines of a different kind, however, in the wake of the photo, published Sunday by News of the World, a British tabloid.