The swimmer has other sponsorships – Gillette, Gatorade, Mutual of Omaha, Nissan, AT&T, Procter and Gamble – that could follow the footsteps of Speedo and Ralph Lauren. The swimsuit maker owned by PVH in NY says that it doesn’t condone behavior that is counter to its values.
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Speedo were the first company to end a relationship with Lochte, announcing the decision in a statement on Monday. The swimsuit maker says that it doesn’t condone behavior that is counter to its values.
Swimwear maker Speedo USA said on Monday it had chose to end its sponsorship of Ryan Lochte, two days after the U.S. Olympic gold medalist swimmer admitted to exaggerating his story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.
Speedo released a statement which read, “Speedo USA will donate a $50,000 portion of Lochte’s fee to Save The Children, a global charity partner of Speedo USA’s parent company, for children in Brazil”.
“We can not condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for”, Nottingham, UK-based Speedo’s USA unit said in a statement on Monday.
He has since apologized for embellishing his version of events. The statement from airweave said it had a similar arrangement with the swimmer. Without that cash, he can’t finance his training for the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Lochte and three teammates said they had been robbed at gunpoint after attending a party at the Olympics, but it was soon discovered the four athletes allegedly vandalized a gas station and urinated on the building.
Bentz and Conger were removed from a plane on Rio’s runway as they attempted to fly home, before being later allowed to leave Brazil, while Feigen was reported to have made a charitable donation of more than £8,000 to have a charge of falsely reporting a crime dropped, and to get his passport back.
Feigen wound up donating just under $11,000 to a Brazilian nonprofit sports organization to settle any potential legal action. While there have been conflicting versions over whether the guards pulled their weapons on the swimmers, Lochte conceded that his behavior led to the confrontation, which resulted in the swimmers paying some $50 in USA and Brazilian currency before they were allowed to leave.
Lochte issued a statement Friday saying he should have been “more careful and candid” in explaining what happened.
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Mattress company Airweave LLC also ended its endorsement of Lochte, who has admitted he “over-exaggerated” his story where he claimed to have been mugged by robbers pretending to be police after a night out. He also apologized in an interview with Brazil’s main broadcaster, Globo. He finished fifth in the 200-meter individual medley, far behind longtime rival Michael Phelps, but did help Phelps and the Americans win gold in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
