Those sanctions, which end December 31, also strip funding and training access. Lochte will have to do 20 hours of community service while Bentz will have to do 10 hours of community service since he was out of the Olympic Village after curfew.
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“As we have said previously, the behaviour of these athletes was not acceptable”.
‘Each of the athletes has accepted responsibility for his actions and accepted the appropriate sanctions, ‘ Blackmun added.
The US Olympic gold medallist is banned from swimming until next June and will forfeit the $100,000 (£75,000) bonus money he was awarded for his success at Rio 2016.
Lochte has been suspended from the domestic and worldwide USA Swimming national team for 10 months which means he won’t be back in the pool until July 2017.
Despite the embarrassment, Ryan hasn’t maintained a low profile, on the contrary, regularly posting on the social media and accepting a place on the next season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’.
Meanwhile, Brazilian authorities have charged Lochte with falsely reporting a crime, which could lead to a fine or up to six months in prison. After a stop at a gas station led to the men tearing down a poster and getting into a confrontation with men who turned out to be security guards, the story got out of control as over-exaggerations were spread around and what should have been a simple night out turned into an global incident.
Swimming’s global federation, Fina, called the sanctions “proportionate, adequate and sufficient”, and said it had no plans to augment them.
TMZ.com was the first to report the length of Lochte’s suspension. Speedo, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gentle Hair Removal and mattress maker Airweave are saying they would be cutting ties with Lochte after the Rio scandal.
On August 19, Lochte issued a statement apologizing for his actions.
While in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Lochte claimed that he and three teammates – Gunnar Bentz, James Feigen and Jack Conger – were coming home after a night of partying when their taxi was pulled over by men pretending to be Rio police.
Suspended from domestic and global USA Swimming national team competitions for four months (through December 31, 2016).
Ryan Lochte is not the only swimmer who faces suspension, although it has been revealed that he will get the longest punishment.
“Unfortunately, this storyline took attention away from the athletes who deserved it the most”, said Chuck Wielgus, the executive director for USA Swimming.
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Lochte might be hoping his DWTS gig will take some of the attention away from his Rio snafu.
