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Ryan Lochte was officially suspended from swimming on Thursday, punishment for his Rio “robbery” scandal. Now fans and critics alike are weighing in on the penalties. See Twitter reaction below.
As Gossip Cop reported, Lochte is suspended from swimming events for 10 months. Consequently, USA Swimming and the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) have banned him from participating in the 2017 National and World Swimming Championships. He’s also prohibited from attending an upcoming White House visit with the rest of Team USA.
Locte must do 20 hours of community service, and he is required to forfeit the monetary prize for gold medal at the Rio games. Furthermore, throughout the suspension, he will not have access to any USOC training facilities, and will not receive his monthly stipend. He’ll also be persona non grata at the annual “Golden Goggles” event later this year.
As for Lochte’s cohorts, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen, their suspensions are for four months. They, too, cannot go to the White House or the “Golden Goggles” ceremony. And Bentz must do 10 hours of community service as well.
Twitter reaction to Lochte’s punishments is largely mixed. “Ouch! That’s harsh, but it’s his own fault,” tweeted @NewsRemote. With the athlete expected to lose about $100,000 due to the financial forfeiture, @VPatty06 commented, “That is one expen$ive bad lie.”
@lauratobias opined, “Good – totally deserved. No chance of qualifying for the World Championships. Hurts him more than financial penalty.” And @burgundylue argued, “@RyanLochte consequences of your criminal activity are appropriate… you are not the victim.”
But @vivalamelika felt, “Ryan Lochte’s 10 month ban, + ban from White House and more is a little harsh…I’m not cray over the guy but it’s kinda unfair :/” And @WickedLPixie also said, “Phelps has 2 DUI’S & gets less suspension time then Lochte. Solo also got less time. Yep makes sense.” In contrast, though, @fosterniumata stated, “Lochte gets off lightly. Pity.”
