Lochte was embroiled in a scandal during the Summer Games after he allegedly vandalized a gas station and falsey reported a robbery involving three other US swimmers.
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That probe concluded that the swimmers had vandalized a gas station after a night of partying and gotten into a confrontation with security guards who forced them to pay for the damage.
The tale humiliated first the Brazilian hosts of the Games and later Lochte’s own Team USA, after police determined that he had largely fabricated his story.
Ryan Lochte of US reacts in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 11, 2016.
Three swimmers with him during the incident will receive suspensions of four months.
“The behavior of these athletes was not acceptable”, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement.
Lochte is also ineligible for the 2017 FINA World Championships and will not receive a monthly stipend from USOC or USA Swimming during his suspension.
Bentz, Conger and Feigen have each been suspended for four months, which will run until December 31.
The suspension was handed down by the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming, USA Today reported, citing an unnamed source.
If Lochte is indeed banned from the World Championships, he will not get the chance to chase a fifth consecutive world title in the 200 individual medley, an event he has won at every World Champs since 2009.
The three other US swimmers who were with Lochte that night – Gunnar Bentz, 20; Jack Conger, 21; and James Feigen, 26 – were hit with four-month suspensions and other punishments.
Lochte left Brazil soon after the incident, but the others had their passports confiscated and were questioned by authorities – with Feigen paying a fine of about $11,000 – before being permitted to leave the country. 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.
“I’m taking full responsibility for it”, Lochte said in a television interview.
“No robbery was committed against these athletes”, Rio civil police chief Fernando Veloso said.
A joint announcement on the suspensions by the United States Olympic Committee and US Swimming, the national governing body for the sport, is expected Thursday, the person said.
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Since the controversy erupted, a number of Lochte’s personal sponsors, including Speedo, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gentle Hair Removal and mattress-maker Airweave, have all announced that they would be cutting ties with the swimmer.
