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| Ryan Lochte: Speedo sponsorship ended over Rio account | Ryan Lochte: Speedo sponsorship ended over Rio account |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Swimwear manufacturer Speedo is dropping its sponsorship of the disgraced US Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte. | |
| The company made its announcement after Lochte lied about being robbed at gunpoint by a policeman after a night out during the Rio Olympics. | |
| Speedo said: "We cannot condone behaviour that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for." | Speedo said: "We cannot condone behaviour that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for." |
| Lochte and three team-mates had in fact damaged a petrol station toilet door. | |
| They had been returning to the Olympic village after a night out in Rio when they tried, unsuccessfully, to use the locked toilet and urinated outside instead. | They had been returning to the Olympic village after a night out in Rio when they tried, unsuccessfully, to use the locked toilet and urinated outside instead. |
| Speedo said it would donate a $50,000 portion of Lochte's sponsorship fee to the charity Save The Children's Brazilian operation. | Speedo said it would donate a $50,000 portion of Lochte's sponsorship fee to the charity Save The Children's Brazilian operation. |
| Disdain | |
| Lochte is one of the most successful swimmers in history, with 12 Olympic medals, and he once had his own reality television show in the US. | Lochte is one of the most successful swimmers in history, with 12 Olympic medals, and he once had his own reality television show in the US. |
| In Rio, he swam in two events, winning a gold medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay along with team-mate Jack Conger. | |
| Lochte's behaviour has been met with disdain in the US and he has been widely pilloried in the US media. | |
| On 19 August the New York Post carried a front-page headline describing him as the "Ugly American", along with the slogan "Liar, Liar, Speedo on fire". | |
| After first claiming that he and his three team-mates had been robbed by bogus policemen, Lochte back-tracked and admitted he had, while still drunk, "left details out" and "overexaggerated some parts of the story". | |
| Despite the evidence against him, including CCTV footage, he has however also denied that he actually lied in his initial account to Brazilian police. | |
| "We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience," Speedo said of Lochte. |