Ryan Lochte's lawyer says the swimmer must get help for "alcohol addiction"

Jeff Ostrow told TMZ that the swimmer had been suffering from this addiction for years and that he was "getting help immediately".

"Ryan has been fighting alcohol addiction for many years and unfortunately this has become a destructive model for him," Ostrow said. "He acknowledged that he needed professional assistance to overcome his problem and that he would get help immediately."

Lochte, 34, won 12 medals at the Olympics, including six gold, three silver and three bronze.

Lochte was at the center of a scandal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 when he and three of his teammates were involved in a gas station incident after a party night after the end of the competition. swimming. Lochte adorned details of his story in which he would have flipped a poster. He said in a television interview that security agents had put a firearm on his forehead. Lochte then served a 10-month suspension from the US National Swim Team.

Lochte received a suspension announced in July and retroactive to May 24 by the US Anti-Doping Agency for 14 months after receiving an intravenous infusion without derogation for therapeutic use.

"Ryan knows that in order to conquer this disease, he absolutely must avoid making bad decisions, become the best father and father possible, and if he wants to achieve his goal, which is to return to domination in the pool when of its fifth Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, "Ostrow told TMZ.