Grounded. Ryan Lochte has been suspended from all swimming competitions for 10 months as punishment for his robbery scandal at the Rio Olympics, U.S. Olympic officials announced Thursday, September 8.
Advertisement
Forfeits all USOC and USA Swimming medal funding for his gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. 4.
Ryan Lochte’s suspension from swimming is the latest headline about the athlete, who is now banned from swimming competition for 10 months after embellishing a story about being robbed by men posing as Brazilian police officers during the Olympics.
Lochte was among four USA swimmers that initially claimed they had been robbed at gunpoint when returning to the Olympic Village before closed circuit television footage emerged of the men vandalising a petrol station following a night out.
“The behaviour of these athletes was not acceptable”, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement.
Lochte said he was with fellow U.S. swimmers James Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger when their taxi was stopped by thieves posing as police.
We’re told the punishment was handed down not just by the USOC but by the International Olympic Committee and USA Swimming as well.
Bentz, 20, will also serve 10 hours of community service for violating a curfew rule for athletes under 21.
During their suspensions, which begin immediately, the swimmers will be cut off from stipends and prevented from using USOC facilities, and also won’t be allowed to join Team USA during its visit to the White House.
“Each athlete has accepted responsibility for his actions and accepted the sanctions”.
What happened at that gas station, and Lochte’s “exaggerated” description of it later to newscasters, created an worldwide hubbub and an embarrassment for Olympic officials.
The other three swimmers involved in the episode – Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen – also face suspensions of four months.
USA Swimming and the United States Olympic Committee also banned Lochte from the 2017 National Championship.
FINA, world swimming’s governing body, said in a statement that it was satisfied with the sanctions and would not seek additional bans. “I think that’s what the biggest thing is – what we’re gonna do is just move forward and show off my dancing skills”, Lochte told People magazine when the cast was revealed on Good Morning America.
Brazilian police charged Lochte last month with filing a false report but the swimmer has not said whether he’ll return to Brazil to defend himself.
Advertisement
“When code of conduct infractions occur, it’s our responsibility to take action that reflects the seriousness of what happened”. “… Unfortunately, this storyline took attention away from the athletes who deserved it the most”.
