Rio 2016: Ryan Lochte loses all four major sponsors in wake of Olympic scandal
Tue Aug 23, 2016 01:23:pm Sports
3.1K By sosa hills
Speedo USA announced Monday it has ended its sponsorship of embattled star Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte following his false claim that he had been robbed at gunpoint in Rio, a story he later admitted was "over exaggerated."
The swimwear brand says it will donate $50,000 of Lochte's fees to Save the Children, to go towards helping Brazilian children.
" Speedo USA today announces the decision to end its sponsorship of Ryan Lochte," the company said in a statement.
"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," it said.
"We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience," Speedo USA said of Lochte, who has won a total of 12 medals in Olympic competition during his career, six of them gold.
Lochte, 32, claimed he and three of his teammates -all gold medal winners in Rio -were mugged by robbers pretending to be police after a night out.
But he quickly found himself embroiled in controversy when police said his account was untrue, and that in fact the group had been detained over the vandalization of a gas station bathroom -- apparently led by a drunken Lochte.
Lochte later admitted he had "left details out" and "overexaggerated some parts of the story" -- a major embarrassment for Team USA, an Olympic swimming powerhouse.
The swimwear brand says it will donate $50,000 of Lochte's fees to Save the Children, to go towards helping Brazilian children.
" Speedo USA today announces the decision to end its sponsorship of Ryan Lochte," the company said in a statement.
"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," it said.
"We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience," Speedo USA said of Lochte, who has won a total of 12 medals in Olympic competition during his career, six of them gold.
Lochte, 32, claimed he and three of his teammates -all gold medal winners in Rio -were mugged by robbers pretending to be police after a night out.
But he quickly found himself embroiled in controversy when police said his account was untrue, and that in fact the group had been detained over the vandalization of a gas station bathroom -- apparently led by a drunken Lochte.
Lochte later admitted he had "left details out" and "overexaggerated some parts of the story" -- a major embarrassment for Team USA, an Olympic swimming powerhouse.
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