U.S. swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte was suspended for 10 months by USA Swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee for the gas station incident that happened during the Rio Olympics.
The other swimmers that were involved in the incident, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen have been suspended for four months. Lochte will not get the $25,000 bonus that the USOC awards to gold medalists and won’t be eligible for his monthly USA Swimming stipend of $3,250 during the suspension, according to ESPN. He could lose as much as $100,000 since USA Swimming has awarded a $75,000 gold-medal bonus at past Olympics. Lochte will have to do 20 hours of community service while Bentz will have to do 10 hours of community service since he was out of the Olympic Village after curfew.
“We accept the decision and believe it is in everyone’s best interest to move forward,” Lochte’s attorney Jeff Ostrow told USA Today. “Ryan is grateful to be a member of the U.S. Olympic team and USA Swimming. He recognizes his lapse in judgment and is looking forward to continuing his training, volunteer work with kids and resuming his swimming career next year with an eye toward representing his country at the 2020 Olympic games in Japan.”
During the Rio Olympics, Lochte and the other swimmers made up a robbery story to cover up vandalizing a gas station in Rio. Lochte issued an apology and has been dropped by his sponsors as a result of the robbery scandal. He has been charged by police in Rio for making a false police report.
Lochte is currently doing Dancing With the Stars and he plans on competing in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.