Speedo, which signed Lochte to a 10-year deal in 2006, said in a statement that it would end its relationship with the decorated swimmer who has won 12 Olympic medals, including six golds, while wearing its products.
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Speedo USA said today that it has chose to terminate its sponsorship of US swimmer Ryan Lochte after he admitted to lying to Rio de Janeiro police about being held up at gunpoint in the city. Lochte was under fire after it was discovered he lied about being robbed at gunpoint after a night of partying with friends.
“We can not condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for”, Speedo said in a statement. Lochte needs those sponsorships in order to fund his training for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. Ralph Lauren, also a U.S. Olympic Committee sponsor, has not responded to requests for comment.
Lochte, in an initial interview to NBC, said “these guys came out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over”.
“It’s relatively hard for any swimmer to break out and to attract sponsors, but if you couple it with how they all corroborated a fabricated story, it’s a black eye”, Matt Delzell at The Marketing Arm, a part of the Omnicom Group agency that advises brands on sports endorsements, told Reuters at the time. “I refused, I was like we didn’t do anything wrong, so I’m not getting down on the ground”. Police alleged the swimmers vandalized a bathroom and security guards at the gas station demanded the swimmers pay for the damage, which they did. The decision came after Lochte apologized on NBC’s Today for his “immature behavior” in Rio two weekends ago.
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Lochte has apologized for his behavior and for exaggerating parts of the story. “If I had never done that, we wouldn’t be in this mess”.
