United States swimmer Ryan Lochte has been hit with a 10-month suspension following his bogus gunpoint robbery story during a drunken night out at the Olympics, two separate media reports said Wednesday. The US athlete, who is set to compete on the upcoming season of US dance show Dancing with the Stars, admitted to Ellen DeGeneres during an appearance on The Ellen Show that he is ready to move away from his Rio incident, which he calls the “lowest” point of his life.
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Asked whether he was a victim, as Lochte had previously suggested, or a vandal, as the police have claimed, he said: “It’s how you want to make it look like”.
Twelve-time Olympic swimming medalist Ryan Lochte reportedly has been suspended 10 months for his role in an embarrassing incident during last month’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics, in which he embellished details of a gas station confrontation with armed security guards, setting off a week of worldwide intrigue that threatened to overshadow the second week of the Summer Games.
Brazilian police disputed the story and Lochte eventually said he ” over-exaggerated” the circumstances and now faces charges in Brazil for falsely reporting a crime.
Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, James Feigen and Lochte have agreed to serve the suspensions. That means he won’t be able to qualify for July’s world championships, which normally don’t draw top fields in the year after the Olympics.
The punishment – which some members of the committee felt was too harsh – was handed down about a month after Lochte lied about a robbery in Rio. The suspension and subsequent sanctions are effective immediately.
The punishment was the result of the 12-time Olympic medalist swimmer’s controversial involvement in a gas station incident during the Olympics.
“During an otherwise extraordinary Olympic Games, a small group of athletes had lapses in judgement and conduct that are unacceptable and not consistent with our expectations”, said USA Swimming executive director Chuck Wielgus.
None of the four swimmers will be permitted to attend a White House visit honoring U.S. Olympians.
Tracked down at LAX by TMZ, which first reported the length of the ban, Lochte repeatedly declined comment about the suspension – but said he heard the news while he was on the plane. They were made to pay for the damage before the guards let them go.
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Mr Blackmun added: “Each of the athletes has accepted responsibility for his actions and accepted the appropriate sanctions”. 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.
