US swimmer Ryan Lochte gets 10-month ban over Rio scandal

TIL Desk Sports/ American swimmer Ryan Lochte has been suspended for 10 months, US media reported on Wednesday, following a scandal involving the US Olympic athlete and three other swimmers at the Rio Games. The suspension was handed down by the US Olympic Committee and USA Swimming. No further details were available.

Neither the US Olympic Committee nor USA Swimming immediately responded to requests for comment. Lochte, 32, was dropped by four of his major sponsors after admitting he “overexaggerated” a tale about being robbed and held at gunpoint with the three other swimmers after a party during the Rio Olympics.

Brazilian authorities said the group destroyed a bathroom and urinated in public, and have recommended that Lochte be charged with falsely reporting a crime. The three other swimmers were suspended, although for shorter lengths of time, and that Lochte would be banned from a championship swim meet in Budapest in 2017. That announcement came as the gold medallist said he thought reaction to his Rio de Janeiro tale had been blown out of proportion.