After winning a gold medal in the 4×100 freestyle relay Aug. 9, 32-year-old Ryan Lochte watched his teammate-nemesis 31-year-old Michael Phelps once again steal the show, winning another staggering five gold medals, one silver, capping off the most dominating swimming career in Olympic history, winning a whopping 23 gold medals, eclipsing Olympian Mark Spitz’s once unthinkable record seven gold medals in the 1972 Munich Olympics, winning eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Watching his swimming career end failing to medal Aug. 10 in the 200 butterfly, Lochte went over the deep end, culminating in his Aug. 14 fabricated story that he and three other teammates were robbed at gunpoint returning home after a late-night of partying. Creating a PR nightmare for Brazilian authorities, the police went into overdrive to debunk Lochte’s wild fabrication.
Distraught and under-the-influence after watching his swimming career end badly Aug. 9, Lochte told a whopper Aug. 14, insisting he and teammates Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunner Bentz were robbed at gunpoint. “We got pulled over, in the taxi, and these guys cam out with a badge, a police badge, no lights, no nothing just a police badge and they pulled us over,” Lochte told the police Aug. 14. “They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground—they got down on the ground. I refused. I was like we didn’t do anything wrong, so—I’m not getting down on the ground,” insisted Lochte, giving the first sign of fabrication. Painting himself as the defiant hero, Lochte exposed his battered ego, making up stories about how only he resisted the armed robbery. “And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead, and said ‘get down,’” Lochte said.
Lochte couldn’t stop himself from spinning more fantastic details, not realizing he was discrediting himself. “And I put my hands up, I was like ‘whatever.’ He took our money, he took my wallet—he left my cell-phone, he left my credentials,” making zero sense to anyone with any police knowledge. Lochte got a fast jump to the Rio airport before hightailing out of town, before a Brazilian judge issued a bench warrant to pull their passports, bringing the foursome in for questioning. Ryan revised his big fish story, telling NBC that the robber didn’t actually press his gun to his forehead. Brazilian officials took a lot of heat before the games over security concerns. Bending over backwards to keep the games safe, Lochte’s story was a slap-in-the face, prompting authorities to work swiftly to debunk his outrageous story. Filing a false police report in Brazil is punishable by up to six months in jail.
Revealing Lochte’s need for attention, instead of ducking the media, Lochte told PBS’s Matt Lauer he was robbed in Rio’s Barra da Tijuca neighborhood while at service station using a bathroom. Video footage actually showed the intoxicated swimmers destroying the bathroom door before confronted by an armed security guard. “We wouldn’t make up this story up. We’re victims in this and we’re happy that we’re safe,” Lochte told Lauer, continuing to lie. Known as a self-promoter with his reality TV show cancelled by E! Sept. 19, 2013 after only one season, Lochte had only the Rio Olympics left in the tank. Watching Phelps win the 200m butterfly Aug. 9, Lochte watched his life shattered. Fabricating the robbery story was a sick way of staying in the limelight, displaying the kind of desperation not uncommon to celebrities when their careers start falling apart.
Safely back in the States watching his friends squirm in the hand of Brazilian police, Lochte’s got a lot of explaining to do if he hopes of salvage anything from his 12-year Olympic swimming career. “We have to understand that these kids were trying to have fun, said International Olympic Committee [IOC] spokesman Mario Andrada. “They came here, they represent their country to the best of their ability. They train for years. They competed under gigantic pressure. I understand they’re under investigation. I can’t go much further into the details,” making nothing but excuses, especially for Lochte who’s no “kid.” Filing false police reports is criminal conduct in most countries. Lochte’s wild tale can only be explained as a distraught, poorly adjusted athlete watching his Olympic career crash-and-burn. Lochte desperately needs a shrink to help him come to grips with his erratic behavior.
Lochte’s not the first or the last to make up wild tales to mend broken egos. Even high profile news anchors like NBC’s Brian Williams or politicians like Hillary Rodham Clinton embellish stuff from time-to-time, proving, if nothing else, that ego problems aren’t confined to amateur or professional athletes. When trying to fathom the stupidity of such actions, it’s helpful to recognize the fragile nature of human personality. Lochte’s wild tale spoke volumes about his abysmal need for attention, after his Olympic career ended so abruptly. Watching Phelps, once again, steal the headlines, was too much for Lochte, realizing his Olympic party was over. If he really wanted to redeem himself, he’d join his teammates back in Rio to face music and set the record straight. Cutting-and-running makes salvaging his career in the future all the more difficult, no matter what he does.
