Oh, Ryan
Dying your hair back to brown doesn’t really make you all the more believable.
I do hope you realize that you haven’t really apologized yet.
You haven’t accepted responsibility. You’re still too busy covering your own ass by telling us you “exaggerated” the story while still in an intoxicated state. You’re still minimizing your behavior as “immature.”
I get it. You’re still being investigated by the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic Committee. You can’t outright say that you lied when you’re still hoping to swim in 2020.
Brazil is still pretty ticked at you, too, and you’re probably not done untangling the legal mess you created with them until that’s settled, either.
As long as you’re saying that you “over-exaggerated”, you’re still lying!
Intoxicated or not, you still made the entire thing up. You’re not taking full responsibility here, not even close.
You say that you have really learned your lesson. What lesson? What did you learn? Just saying you learned your lesson doesn’t count!
I wonder what would have happened if you stuck with the truth:
I really screwed up. The other night, my teammates and I partied and celebrated a successful Games. We drank too much. After months of training and abstaining from junk food and alcohol, we over did it, got drunk, and were irresponsible.
In a drunken state, I caused some damage to a gas station bathroom, causing an altercation with Brazilian law enforcement. It all happened so fast.
I got scared.
I impulsively lied and made up a story of an armed robbery to cover my actions. I got worried about my reputation, about what would happen to us. I freaked out and in an instant, I just lied and I put my friends and teammates in a position where they had to lie for me.
I was not the victim of an armed robbery. I did not have a gun to my head. Admittedly, I was intoxicated and am still not clear on all of the actual details but I lied.
I’ve embarrassed myself, my team, the United States, and I have insulted Brazil. They worked hard to put up a great Games, and I embarrassed them.
That is not the Olympic spirit. That is not what the Games are about. I take full responsibility for my actions, even if it means I cannot swim in 2020.
Might that be your truth, Ryan?
You panicked and in an instant, lied? We may not all agree but many of us would at least get that. Many of us adults have been in that spot, too. There’s no need to insult yourself or your age by just implying you made some youthful mistake. You screwed up.
Admittedly, your screw up was pretty big compared to some but at the end of the day, it was an F-up.
This is going to haunt you until you own it.
So long as you’re dodging your truth, it will follow you and any attempts at amends will be tarnished by your lack of complete authenticity.
Speak your truth and then begin to really move on.
Instead of blaming your youth, maybe consider helping some actual youth.
You still have a lot to give and could make an impact on a lot of lives by teaching them what you’ve learned from this, how you’ve learned to train and focus for athletic greatness, and how to get back up after you’ve fallen.
All is not lost here but first, you have to admit that you lied.