None of the four swimmers will receive stipends from USA Swimming or the USOC during their suspensions; they will also be left out of Team USA’s visit to the White House.
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The USOC gives a $25,000 bonus to Olympic gold-medal winners, and USA Swimming has awarded a $75,000 gold-medal bonus at past Olympics.
“These athletes took accountability for their mistakes and are committed to represent themselves and our country with the great character and distinction we expect”.
Lochte, who is now competing on Dancing With the Stars, will also have to perform 20 hours of community service and will give up any funding from the USOC and USA Swimming associated with his gold medal.
USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun said: “The behaviour of these athletes was not acceptable”.
Lochte’s role in a gas-station confrontation with armed security guards during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics almost overshadowed the Games’ second week.
The incident erupted into an worldwide story when Lochte and his teammates told the U.S. Olympic Committee and Brazilian police that a taxi they were riding in Sunday morning was pulled over by armed robbers posing as police.
All four of the swimmers signed statements accepting the sanctions.
Lauer asked Lochte about using the word “victims” in a prior interview, when police have said the swimmers were vandals. He later backtracked after a police investigation found the swimmers were stopped by security guards at a gas station after committing an act of vandalism and paid approximately $50 in damages. He’s now being charged in Brazil for filing a false police report.
Brazilian authorities questioned teammates Jack Conger and Mr. Bentz, but have not pressed charges against them.
The 32-year-old was charged with making a false statement after admitting he had “over-exaggerated” his story, and apologized for his “immature behavior”. Estimates have put the financial hit for those losses at around $1 million.
He has said he plans to continue his swimming career, but in the short term he has signed on to participate in ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”, which premiers next week.
He showed signs of decline this year, suffering a groin injury at the Olympic trials and qualifying for the Olympics in only one individual event – the 200-meter individual medley, in which he finished fifth.
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His lone medal in Brazil was a gold as part of the 4×200 freestyle relay. 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 2016 Summer Olympics were discussed as a chance to elevate Brazil’s global status, but in the months leading up to the games, Rio’s alleged corruption and pollution were a major focus of media attention.
