Can we stop talking about Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte ,Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen’s motivations and reasoning and focus on their actions?
Simply put, they committed a crime and lied. Repeatedly. In a foreign country under the Olympic flag in disdain for the oath all athletes take. Olympic 2016 Oath Taking The Olympics stand for honor, Integrity, sportsman/womanship at the highest level.
But, not from these four athletes. Why does not matter. It is up to the US Olympic Committee and the IOC to re-enforce a mandate about exceptional behavior. Take away their gold medals and their chance to compete at that level ever again.
This isn’t self-righteousness on my part or a lack of understanding about the pressures of being an elite athlete and this sure as heck is not “boys being boys”. It is disgust.
They lied about a crime on an international stage, where the US was performing at its most wonderful best. They humiliated Brazil, the Olympic Games host country, whose people have had to listen to criticism after criticism about their planning and execution and the safety of the athletes, and who have tried their very best to present an amazing Summer 2016 Olympic Games despite incredible political turmoil within their country. (Good on ya Brazil!)
They humiliated the United States and all of the other athletes who have worked and trained and given up so much to become the top in their sport. Who have agonized and stressed and competed with incredible valor and heart. And they really disappointed the fans, who have invested pride and soul in cheering on our beyond world class athletes.
These four do not deserve to be called Olympians. They were chosen to represent the best of all of us and by their behavior did much to tarnish and damage the games, the host country and our psyche.
It is not the actions at the gas station that disturb me as much as the actions after the fact (though I am plenty disgusted by their behavior). Lochte could have kept silent and never said a word about their behavior and it could have been written off in their minds as an error in judgement, blowing off steam, close call for them. But they chose to make public statements, lying about what transpired and all four swimmers participated. ALL FOUR lied. There is no need to understand their motivation or reasoning – it does not matter.
In a games that saw the incredible Gabby Douglas treated with hate and disdain, where news headlines reduced Simone Manuel to an afterthought and seemingly racist headline, (where was that medal ceremony NBC?) and minimized Bronze medal winner Corey Cogdell to an adjunct of her husband, we care more about the motivations of 4 immature boys who overshadowed all that was fantastic and wonderful.
And it’s our media again – hysterical in its coverage of the wrong doer, the liar and not the glorious or honorable.
Lochte ,Bentz, Conger and Feigen deserve our disdain and nothing more. At a minimum all four should have their medals confiscated and all of them need to be banned from rejoining any Olympic team. Remember the black athletes who had their medals taken away for a mere salute of pride? And that was not a crime.
Will these four be the footnote to these amazing Olympic Games? Is failure to punish them what we will remember in these Games that saw so many incredible athletes shine and represent our country with integrity and honor? How will the USOC be able to demand law-abiding, ethical behavior of other countries’ athletes if we are unwilling to live by example?
So enough with the hand wringing and the ongoing supposition and excuses for these four dishonorable athletes. Let us honor those who worked so hard, performed at such an amazing level of exceptionalism. Leave these four where they belong – as a footnote in Olympic history.