The Olympics is a time for healthy competition between countries. The competitors are there to hopefully win some medals and have some fun. While they are there, they represent the country they are from. Their actions are how other countries perceive us, so acting responsibly is needed. On the whole, this is a good thing. Everyone is represented well and respectful.
And then there is the US Men’s Swim team, specifically, Ryan Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen. They didn’t act responsibly; instead they acted impulsively and rudely. I get that they were angry and then scared. They didn’t know how to act when they were told they had to pay for what they damaged in order to be able to leave.
But the worst part is that Lochte lied about it by saying he was robbed while held at gunpoint. He wanted people to feel sorry for him rather than finding out what he really did, which was being a hot headed jerk. He had his wallet the whole time. No one stole money from him. He’s the one that made the mess that he didn’t want to clean up.
He took advantage of a corrupt government and the fact that the main race there is Afro-Latino. He knew everyone was going to believe the “innocent” white man. This is a good case of white privilege. No one thought twice about his story. Everyone just assumed the other party was guilty when in reality, they were the one’s telling the truth and Lochte wasn’t.
He jumped on a plane as soon as he was done competing to avoid any further investigation. He left the other teammates there, knowing that someone was going to find out the truth. It took the Rio police releasing the security footage and a statement from the USOC to confirm it wasn’t true.
Lochte said he didn’t want to get in trouble. He issued an apology that pretty much sounded like “I’m sorry I got caught,” and the USOC said they were just kids and we needed to let it go. Lochte is facing no repercussions for his actions. He’s getting away with what he has done. His actions are being dismissed like he didn’t actually do anything when he did. He broke a business owner’s property and got away with it. Way to go USA! We aren’t taking responsibility for our citizens’ actions, we are just dismissing them. Good job team. Next time, let’s hold the people responsible for what they did.
