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Ryan Lochte plans to receive treatment for an "alcohol addiction" that has lasted for "several years," confirmed Monday to his lawyer's lawyer, Jeff Ostrow, at ESPN.
As originally announced by TMZ on Saturday, Lochte made the decision to be "immediately" treated after an incident at a hotel in Newport Beach, when staff members called police after the 34-year-old Olympic swimmer attempted to kick him. door of the room. No arrests have been made.
"Ryan has been fighting addiction to alcohol for many years and unfortunately it has become a destructive model for him," Ostrow told TMZ. "He acknowledged that he needed professional help to overcome his problem and that he would do it immediately." Ryan knows that it is now essential to overcome this disease to avoid taking bad decisions, to be the best father and father possible, and if he wants to achieve his goal of regaining dominance in the pool at his fifth Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. "
The long-time American star of swimming is in the middle of a 14-month ban until July 2019, which forced the Olympic medalist to win 12 times to miss the national championships in July and the ### 39, made it ineligible for other major competitions, including the Pan Pacific Championships. and the world championships next year.
Lochte's ban was due to an intravenous injection that he received in May – a method generally prohibited by anti-doping rules. The ban, retroactive to May 24 and announced by USADA, is the second in less than two years after his suspension of 10 months in jail for his behavior during a drunken incident that created a widespread contempt for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The US anti-doping authorities have stated that Lochte was not taking any prohibited substance.
"I've never taken any prohibitive stuff," said Lochte. "I've never tried to gain an advantage by putting something illegal in my body – I would never do it – it's very serious for me … Unfortunately, while the rule is a newer rule and that it's not widely known as such, I should know better. "
Lochte's violation was essentially revealed when he posted a photo of him getting IV on his social networking accounts. This triggered the USADA investigation, to which Lochte "fully cooperated," according to US officials.
"Lochte received an intravenous infusion of substances authorized in an infusion clinic," announced the suspension of USADA. In most cases, athletes can only receive infusions if they are hospital-related or authorized under an exemption approved by USADA – and Lochte did not belong to any of these categories.
The nationals would have been Lochte's biggest competition since the Rio 2016 Games, where he declared that he and three other US Olympic swimmers had been stolen under the threat of a firearm at a gas station, a story that quickly revealed itself. Lochte was not only suspended for 10 months as a result of this incident, but also lost $ 100,000 in Olympic medal bonuses and was banned from competing at last year's National and World Championships.
Lochte has spent a large part of his career portraying an image of a party animal, while his exploits in the pool – six Olympic gold medals, 36 world championship gold medals, no less than four world records – have always been overshadowed by 28 Michael Phelps, medalist and 23-time Olympic champion.
After Rio, Lochte was abandoned by at least four major sponsors, including Speedo USA and Ralph Lauren, although he has since added some promotional deals. He was also reportedly targeted by two men wearing t-shirts carrying an anti-Locket message who rushed to the scene while he was participating in the "Dancing with the Stars" show. ;ABC.
Lochte returned to competition last year, winning the 200m individual medley at the American Open. He has also become a father and husband since Rio.
Lochte will be 36 years old at the Tokyo Games. He won gold medals at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 games and, if he found the way to win another in Tokyo, he would become the oldest Olympic swimming champion. .
The information provided by the Associated Press has been used in this report.
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