The 2016 Rio Olympic Games were filled with a plethora of storylines. Michael Phelps reminded the world that he is the most decorated Olympian of all time, Usain Bolt is once again the fastest man alive and the Final Five reached expectations, winning the gold in the team all-around. But there was one intriguing headline outside of the competition side of the Olympics involving Ryan Lochte.
During the last week of competition, Lochte reported that he and fellow swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feign were robbed at gunpoint while in Rio.
“We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over,” Lochte told NBC News. “They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground — they got down on the ground. I refused, I was like we didn’t do anything wrong … he took our money, he took my wallet.”
Initially, it seems that one of the U.S.’ most well-known athletes had been robbed at gunpoint; however, suspicion arose. Bentz, Conger and Feign publicly shared stories that differed from Lochte’s tale. The International Olympic Committee denied any incident taking place that Lochte described.
As the general public now understands, Lochte’s account of the events that took place on early Aug. 14 was fabricated. In reality, the swimmers stopped at a gas station outside of this city to use the bathroom. The gas station was locked, so they proceeded to urinate behind the building. Additionally, Lochte allegedly tore down a framed poster from the wall of the building. After the true events came to light, Lochte apologized.
“I over-exaggerated that story, and if I had never done that, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Lochte told Matt Lauer.
The Rio police demanded that Lochte stayed in the country until the investigation was resolved, but he had already left for the U.S. Brazilian authorities charged the 12-time Olympic medalist with falsely reporting a crime. Lochte is facing a max sentencing of six months in jail; however, he might only face a fine and he doesn’t even have to appear in court.
The United States Olympic Committee and USA Swimming have suspended Lochte from swimming events for 10 months, until June 6, 2017, and they have banned him from the 2017 World Championships. The other three swimmers will receive only four-month bans. Along with their suspensions, they will serve other costly fines and punishments.
They are denied their monthly stipends from USA Swimming and the USOC, access to USOC training centers, the annual “Golden Goggles” event in 2016, and are prohibited from joining Team USA for their White House visit following the Olympics.
According to CBSSports.com, due to Lochte’s inaccurate statements of that night in Rio, he will be required to forfeit the $100,000 in bonus money — a hefty fine — that went along with the gold medal he won at the Olympics in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Lochte has been ordered by the USOC to perform 20 hours of community service. He cannot be happy with the outcome of these fines; not only is he banned from the sport he loves, but he is paying hefty fines and losing sponsors as well. He lost all four of his commercial sponsors following the incident including Speedo, Ralph Lauren, Airweave and Gentle Hair Removal. Hopefully the world-class athlete will be able to bounce back from this Rio de Janeiro debacle.
