Ryan Lochte controversy led him to receive a suspension from the Olympic Committee.
With a whopping 12 Olympic medals, Lochte is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history, only behind fellow American swimmer Michael Phelps.
Ryan Steven Lochte shares the record with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson.
However, following the infamous “Lochtegate,” he received a lengthy suspension and was dropped by all his major sponsors.
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Ryan Lochte Controversy: Olympic Committee Suspended Him
The US Olympic Committee (USOC) and USA Swimming have suspended Ryan Lochte for ten months.
The punishment came for his lies about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The action was made official on September 8, 2016, with the U.S.A. Swimming lays out punishments besides the 10-month suspension (through June 30, 2017).
As per the statement, Lochte was suspended from all domestic and international competitions and would receive no monthly stipend from the U.S.A. Swimming or the USOC.
Likewise, he would not obtain any direct support or access to the training facilities of the USOC.
He would also be required to forfeit all U.S.A. Swimming and USOC medal funding for his gold medal at the Olympic Games of 2016.
Additionally, Lochte would need to perform 20 hours of community service and be excluded from Team U.S.A. for its White House visit and U.S.A. Swimming’s annual “Golden Goggles” event in 2016.
In addition to him, Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger, and Gunnar Bentz also received punishments.
On August 19 that year, five days after the claim, the American athlete tweeted an apology after the controversy became an international spectacle.
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After the incident, also termed “Lochtegate,” he noted that he had been drunk or” altered” at the time of the incident and that he “exaggerated that story.”
Ryan Lochte Lied About Rio de Janeiro Robbery Case
The then 32-year-old initially alleged that he and Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger, and Gunnar Bentz were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi when they were returning from a Party.
Lochte talked to N.B.C.’s Today, discussing the events of the evening. According to the Associated Press, Lochte said their group was pulled over, and some guys came with Police badges.
They had no lights or other items but only the badge. After pulling them over, the alleged robbers pulled out their guns and told the other athletes to get down on the ground.
While the others concurred, he refused, thinking they had done nothing wrong. Then, one of the guys pulled out his gun and put it on Lochte’s forehead.
Then, he got down and put his hands up. “He [the mugger] took our money, he took my wallet—he left my cellphone, he left my credentials,” Lochte mentioned.
However, shortly after that interview, Brazilian Police revealed that the story was fabricated.
“No robbery was committed against these athletes. They were not victims of what they claimed,” Fernando Veloso, Civil Police Chief, said during a news conference.
Veloso mentioned that the CCTV footage shows one swimmer pulling a sign off a wall and dropping it to the ground.
Further, the A.P. cited a source that said Bentz and Conger told Brazilian authorities that Lochte’s story was false.
An anonymous Police official also shared that two guards had pointed guns at the swimmers during the incident.
Veloso did not confirm the information but said the guards’ actions would have been justifiable since the athletes “were violently conducting themselves.”
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