American Lochte banned 14 months for anti-doping violation
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[July 24, 2018]
By Frank Pingue
(Reuters) - Six-time Olympic gold
medalist swimmer Ryan Lochte has been suspended for 14 months for
receiving an intravenous infusion of a permitted substance without a
therapeutic use exemption, the U.S. anti-doping agency (USADA) said
on Monday.
Lochte, who was expected to compete at this week's national
championships in California, posted a photo of himself on social
media in May that depicted himself receiving the infusion, which
triggered the USADA investigation.
USADA said in a statement that Lochte was not using a banned
substance but that it prohibits such infusions or injections in
excess of 100 mL within a 12-hour period unless received in the
course of hospital treatment, surgical procedures or clinical
diagnostic investigations.
The 33-year-old's period of ineligibility began on May 24, the date
of the infusion, and will keep him from competing in Japan next
month at the Pan Pacific Championships and at the world
championships in South Korea next July.
Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist who made headlines in 2016 over a
tale about being robbed and held at gunpoint after a party during
the Rio Games which he later admitted was "over-exaggerated", fully
cooperated with the investigation.
The swimmer, who won gold in the 4x200 meters freestyle relay in
Brazil, missed last year's world championships while serving a
10-month ban handed down by the United States Olympic Committee for
his part in the Rio scandal.
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American swimmer Ryan Lochte in the pool at the 2016 Rio Olympics in
Brazil on 11/08/2016. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo/File Photo
Lochte, speaking at a news conference shortly after the USADA
announcement, was quoted as saying by the website SwimSwam that he
would not let his latest setback keep him from working toward his
goal of earning a spot at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
"I wasn't taking anything illegal," said Lochte. "Everything was
legal. You can get it at CVS, Walgreens, but there are rules, and
you have to obey them... Don't worry. I'm not giving up. I'm going
to keep going.
"It's devastating to my family about this because I definitely made
myself a better person after Rio, and I was back in training.
"I was feeling good. I was swimming fast. My son being born.
Everything was happening. Everything was perfect, and then this
happened. And it's devastating."
USA Swimming did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Mark Heinrich and
Christian Radnedge)
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