US swimmer Ryan Lochte loses sponsorship deal after fabricated claim of armed robbery
Ryan Lochte has lost his sponsorship deal with Speedo after his Olympic controversy.
The United States swimmer won his 12th Olympic medal during the Rio Games, but the achievement was overshadowed by a fabricated claim of an armed robbery after the 32-year-old was involved in an altercation at a petrol station, along with team-mates Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen.
Bentz and Conger were removed from a plane on Rio's runway as they attempted to fly home while Feigen was reported to have made a charitable donation of more than £8,000 to have charges of criminal damage and falsely reporting a crime dropped, and to get his passport back.
All four are subject to an International Olympic Commission investigation into their conduct and Lochte has now been hit financially as well.
A statement from his former sponsor read: "Speedo USA today announces the decision to end its sponsorship of Ryan Lochte.
"As part of this decision, Speedo USA will donate a US$50,000 portion of Lochte's fee to Save The Children, a global charity partner of Speedo USA's parent company, for children in Brazil.
"While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behaviour that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for.
"We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience."
Lochte was part of the USA's gold medal-winning 4x200 metres freestyle relay team for the fourth Olympics in succession, adding to further golds in the 400m individual medley at London 2012 and the 200m backstroke at Beijing 2008.
He also won 200m medley silver in Athens in 2004, 200m and 400m medley bronze medals in Beijing and two silvers and a bronze in London.
