Some things just sound like they go together, like peanut butter and jelly or socks and shoes. With the Olympics recently ending it has become more apparent that athletes and scandals fit together nicely. Ryan Lochte went from being known as the Olympic swimmer who died his hair and eats a crazy amount of calories to the Olympian who lied to the world. People haven't hesitated to become disappointed and even disgusted by the lies and attitude Lochte had after the incident but some people don't take a moment to realize the amount of stress and pressure he must be under.
Picture below is Ryan Lochte with Michael Phelps, Towny Haas and Conor Dwyer after winning the 4x200m Freestyle Relay. Just one of the many medals the US Swim Team brought home from the Olympic games.
While in Rio for the 2016 Olympic games, Ryan Lochte and threee other Olympic swimmers, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen, were allegedly robbed at gunpoint on their way to Olympic Village one night. Ryan Lochte told the elaborate story to NBC Sports.
Then all the confusion happened. Lochte's mom was saying one thing, Mark Adams, the international Olympic Committee spokesman was saying another thing, and the Olympians stories were starting to differ. The one thing that seemed to stay the same is that all four american swimmers acknowledged that they had been drinking that night before they encountered the police.
When the truth came out, Lochte admitted that he exaggerated on how he and the other swimmers came in contact with the police and having a gun held to his head.
The Rio de Janeiro police said that there was vandalism done to the bathrooms at the gas station Lochte and the other swimmers said the crime took place. USA TODAY Sports believes that this was a fact embellished by the media in Rio.
While Lochte, an Olympian with 12 medals total; 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze, has been blamed for shaming an entire country, two of the other swimmers, Gunnar Bents and Jack Conger face no charges. According to USA Today, Jimmy Feigen paid settlements to avoid charges and returned home.
Although lying about a crime makes a situation worst, there was a Portuguese-English language barrier during the incident. Which is only one reason that facts got misinterpreted and embellished. The word "vandalism" was first used by Rio police chief, Fernando Veloso.
According to the Washington Post, since the incident, Lochte has lost all four commercial sponsorships including Speedo and Ralph Lauren. Speedo said that "While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for,".
Lochte has addressed his fans and the public with apologies to clear his bad image. One of which he told TMZ “Everything that happened in Rio, I’m definitely going to learn from it. We’re human, we learn from our mistakes."
The truth is, we are human and everyone makes mistakes. Everyone should take the time to think back to the scandals that many well known athletes have had in the past.
Michael Vick, an NFL quarterback, lost the support of many fans in 2007 when he pled guilty to the federal felony dogfighting conspiracy charge. According to ALDF, Animal Legal Defense Fund, there were more than 50 dogs, mostly pitbulls found on Vick's property and they suspected he had killed at least 12 dogs through animal fighting. Michael Vick is currently unemployed but is suspected to sign with a team this season, possibly his final season.
Tiger Woods, a professional golfer, had an affair on his wife, Elin Nordegren, which turned into chaos in 2009. At the time, Woods was dominating the game but went in to a slump after he released an apology and more women came forward. Since then he has recovered and although he will never be the star he once was, no one can say he isn't one of the best.
Michael Phelps lost his sponsorship with Kellogg's in 2009, a year after the Beijing Olympics, because of a picture released of him apparently using illegal drugs. We all know that Michael Phelps has since recovered considering that in the 2016 Rio Olympics he won 5 gold medals and a silver medal making him the most decorated olympian with a total of 28 medals. Phelps, 31, is a swimmer that Locte, 32, has looked up to. Locate told Matt Lauer in and interview with Today, "He brings the best out of me, and hopefully I can say the same for him. The rivalry that we've created and that friendship, I'm definitely going to cherish it for the rest of my life."
Lochte has also said "I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend—for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics,".
Lochte has claimed a spotlight from the Rio Olympics but possibly a bad one that he didn't want. Going forward Lochte is going to continue to swim, hopefully make an appearance at the 2020 Olympics and there are rumors he will be on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars. If that's true, he still has my support.
