I think we can all agree Ryan Lochte has the looks but not the brains. Last week, he and three of his teammates got caught up in a night out in Rio celebrating their accomplishments. As an Olympic athlete, especially a gold medal Olympian, the whole world’s eyes are on you, and unfortunately, any mistake you make is magnified at a global level. While a lot of us love these athletes and idolize them, there is a lot we can learn from them. With the Ryan Lochte scandal, he was not smart about his actions. He claimed he and three of his teammates were robbed at gunpoint after being pulled over in a taxi by men who posed as policemen. However, it has been revealed that after a night out in Rio, they vandalized a gas station. Lochte posted an apology on Instagram apologizing for his actions and “for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events… I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned some valuable lessons.” Although, in his apology, he still claims a robbery took place stating, “It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country… and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave.”
Not only can Lochte and the other U.S. swimmers learn from their mistakes, but so can everyone else. Plain and simple, people need to think before they act and just tell the truth. A night out drinking does not mix well with being in a foreign country with a language barrier. That is one thing Ryan Lochte is right about. That is a traumatic experience, and once the events happened, they happened, and then there was no taking it back, so why not just confess to what really happened? I am a firm believer that telling the truth can go a long way. It may be harder in the moment, but it is the better option. Whether you have an entire fan base or not, your actions can affect others in more ways than one may know. It’s possible that Ryan Lochte’s actions are giving America a worse name than we already have with other countries, which is unfortunate, but even if he wasn’t an Olympic athlete, it was still a situation that should have and could have been avoided.
Even though this Lochte scandal is under a big spotlight right now, these 2016 Olympic games have brought more than just competitive sports. There have been accusations of sexism and Olympians competing, even thought they failed drug tests. Whatever the new trending topic of the Olympic games may be, you can find life lessons in them all. To reiterate, the Lochte scandal teaches us all, Olympic athlete or not, we are on a pedestal and our actions affect more people than we realize in the moment. Worldwide news report or not, we need to start representing America in a more positive light, start by thinking before we act and simply tell the truth.
