The Lyin' Ryan Lochte story has been full of unbelievable events:
- Lochte lies to police about being robbed in Rio.
- Lochte urinates on the walls of a gas station.
- Lochte vandalizes a gas station bathroom.
- Lochte lies on national television about the whole thing.
- The U.S. Olympic Committee and CEO Scott Blackmun have failed to punish Lochte.
And now, the Ryan Lochte story takes a new twist, with the athlete actually being rewarded. USA Today confirmed that Lochte will appear on the next season of Dancing With The Stars. Although the deal was struck prior to the Olympic games and before Lochte's deplorable behavior in Rio, the fact that a national television network is going to give him airtime and make him part of their hit primetime show is unbelievable. They need to rescind the offer.
In addition, Lochte, who lost four sponsorships (Speedo, Ralph Lauren, Syneron-Candela and Airweave) after the Rio Games, has signed a new deal. Pine Bros. Softish Throat Drops has announced the swimmer will appear in a series of print advertisements and a commercial stating, "Pine Brothers Softish Throat Drops: Forgiving On Your Throat."
Pine Bros. Chief Executive Rider McDowell said in a statement: "We all make mistakes, but they're rarely given front-page scrutiny. He's a great guy who has done incredible work with charities. I'm confident that Pine Bros. fans will support our decision to give Ryan a second chance."
Of course we all make mistakes, but the difference is we're not all Olympic athletes in the public eye representing the United States of America at one of the most prestigious gatherings of all the world's countries. Being a great athlete is only part of being a great Olympian. The other part of it is acting like one. If you have the maturity of a child, make bad decisions and lie about it to the world, you're not an Olympian. You're not a role model. You don't deserve to be a company spokesperson. Rewarding Lochte in any way is foolish and sets a bad example. What does it teach our kids? It says it's okay to act like a fool and make stupid decisions. As long as you're rich and famous you can get away with it and you'll even be rewarded.
The solution
Here's what really needs to happen to fix the whole Ryan Lochte mess.
1. The U.S. Olympic committee needs to punish Lochte and the other three swimmers immediately. Why haven't they done anything yet? This should have been done over a week ago. There's nothing left to investigate. It's disgraceful and embarrassing.
2. The U.S. Olympic committee needs to pull Lochte's medals.
3. The U.S. Olympic committee should make Lochte go back to Rio and clean up the gas station and work there for at least a week. Better yet, this is something Lochte should do on his own, without making a big deal of it and without telling anyone. Just show up and let it leak out to the media and watch how quickly the world forgives.
4. Stop treating Lochte like a hero. Allowing him to appear on Dancing with The Stars and giving him a new sponsorship deal is unheard of. Why would anyone reward him for his behavior? It's a complete loss of any critical thinking.
The only parties involved in all of this that's taking it seriously and doing the right thing are Lochte's former sponsors and the Rio Police. Lochte has now been charged with falsely reporting a crime. If convicted, he could face between one to six months in jail, or the judge could choose to levy a fine instead.
Either way, it's time for everyone else, especially the U.S. Olympic Committee which to date has done absolutely nothing to punish Lochte, to follow the Rio police and Lochte's sponsors who dropped him, and not let him get away with this. It's time to make sure the punishment truly fits the crime.