Phelps ponders competing in 2012

Phelps has won 14 career Olympic gold medals Swimming superstar Michael Phelps has said he is feeling "happier" as he weighs up whether to compete at the 2012 Olympics in London. The 23-year-old is considering the next stage of his career after the publication of a photo appearing to show him smoking marijuana at a party. "I'm already happier now than I was, just having some part of my life back to normal," he said. Last week he admitted he could leave the sport at any point before 2012. "I'm not feeling too good physically. But I'm actually able to sleep now. I had a real hard time sleeping over the last two weeks or so," he added in the Baltimore Sun newspaper. "Just swimming and thinking about everything going on. Everything is back to what I call normal. It will take a few months. I'll give it 30 or 60 days. I think it will be better." I'm already happier now than I was Michael Phelps on the possibility of retirement Phelps is training in his hometown after being handed a three-month competition ban from his national swimming federation. Having eclipsing Mark Spitz's previous best of seven golds in a single Games with eight victories in the Beijing, Phelps has been non-committal over his participation in London 2012. "If I decide to walk away, I'll decide to walk away on my own terms. If it's now, if it's four years, who knows. But it is something I need to think about and decide what I want to do," he said last Friday. Even before the recent furore, he claimed that he would focus on fewer events in 2012 to experience more of the atmosphere around the Olympic village and events. But his complete absence would be a disappointment to London 2012 organisers who arranged for Phelps to travel to the city for the handover ceremony last summer. Swimming's governing body FINA and the International Olympic Committee have both accepted apologies from Phelps and he has also attempted to make amends with his sponsors. He has personally spoken to all his commercial backers, the majority of whom have stood by him despite the controversy, with only cereal manufacturer Kellogg thought to have withdrawn their support.