Former Team USA Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte opened up about an apparent rule at the 2024 Paris Summer Games that athletes were prohibited from leaving the Olympic Village. But in doing so, he opened up a whole other can of worms, so to speak, about his bad behavior at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Lochte's wife Kayla, former Playboy "Playmate of the Month," had been answering fan questions on TikTok when the subject came up. "What do you mean you are not allowed to leave the Olympic Village?" one fan had asked. "I see all kinds of Olympic athletes leaving the Village."
"Not USA swimmers," Lochte remarked from off-camera. When asked why, he continued: "Because that’s the rule for USA swimmers." "USA has stricter rules than other countries, right?" Kayla then asked, to which Lochte answered with an affirmative. When she then asked whether the athletes "can leave for certain things," Lochte likewise replied, "Nope."
"You have to get an OK through the head coach," he explained, for swimmers who might have days off and would want to go out with a meal with their families in the city. Though, he declined to elaborate further.
@kayla.lochte Replying to @mammaontherun #olympics #usa #swimming #village #olympicvillage #paris #paris2024
♬ original sound - Kayla Lochte
However, fans were quick to point out so-called "Lochtegate" at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the highly-publicized incident, Lochte and his teammates Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger allegedly vandalized a convenience store bathroom after a night out in Rio de Janeiro and falsely told the media that they had been held at gunpoint by "armed robbers posing as police."
It was later revealed that the "armed robbers" were actually security guards, who the teammates willingly gave money to after urinating outside the bathroom and tearing up a framed poster. Lochte later admitted that he had fabricated part of the story, and was charged with falsely reporting a crime in Brazil. He faced up to 18 months in jail if convicted, but the charges were later dismissed.
A such, fans in the comments directed no small amount of shade towards Lochte and his wife. "Ryan Lochte knows why it’s [because] of his behavior in Brazil hahaha, wrote one user, while another added, "This feels like a Ryan Lochte rule."
"Ryan is why they can’t leave," chimed in yet another user. "Not you asking the one question about the Village that [this] man is responsible for the answer to," read one comment directed at Kayla.
Lochte represented the USA at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the 2012 Games in London, and the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, winning a total of 12 medals; six gold, three silver, and three bronze. Though he competed in the 2020 USA Swimming Olympic Trials, which were postponed to June 2021 due to the pandemic, he eventually placed seventh in the final and did not qualify for competing in Tokyo. All things considered, that was probably for the best.
