Swimming Olympic Scandal: Speedo and Ralph Lauren End Sponsorships With Ryan Lochte

Ryan Lochte had been sponsored by Speedo for almost ten years before they pulled their sponsorship due to the scandal that surrounds his Rio 2016 Olympics robbery. (Getty)

Ryan Lochte may have won a gold medal for the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, but he isn’t having a good few weeks. First, he loses to Michael Phelps in the pool. Then he gets robbed at gunpoint in Brazil. Then he gets caught lying about being robbed at gunpoint, and now he’s facing possible criminal charges.

As if it couldn’t get any worse, Speedo and Ralph Lauren just pulled their sponsorship contracts with the athlete.

https://twitter.com/SpeedoUSA/status/767739849420013568/photo/1

Speedo made their announcement on Twitter Monday morning. Of ending their partnership with Lochte, Speedo said, “we cannot condone behaviour that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for.”

In response, Lochte expressed his respect for their decision. “I am grateful for the opportunities that our partnership has afforded me over the years,” he said in a statement to People, showing is rarely seen mature side. Speedo had been working with Lochte for almost ten years. “We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience,” Speedo said of Lochte.

Another one of Lochte’s sponsors is Ralph Lauren, who designed the opening and closing ceremony outfits for the athletes. The company already removed some of Lochte’s images from its website, according to BBC, and said its sponsorship had been only for the Rio Olympics and “would not be renewed.”

According to BBC, Speedo said they’d donate a $50,000 portion of Lochte’s sponsorship earnings to the charity Save The Children’s Brazilian operation.

And that’s not all. A third sponsor, a hair removal company called Syneron Candela, has also cancelled its sponsorship of the swimmer, says BBC.

This all started when Lochte “exaggerated” the facts of a wild night out with his teammates, Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz. What he said was a robbery at gunpoint turned about to be a settlement that was his own fault, after vandalizing a gas station and the owner demanding he pay the damages on the spot. Apparently, that’s “robbery” to Lochte.

Forbes estimates his endorsements would have been between $1 million and $2 million for the Rio Olympics.

Prior to the 2012 Olympics, Fortune Magazine estimated that Lochte earned $2.3 million from endorsement deals with brands including Speedo, Gatorade and Ralph Lauren.

His is most lucrative deal has been with Speedo. The deal began has earned him an estimated half million per year since then, according to Money Nation. Money Nation reports that his contracts with Nissan, AT&T and Ralph Lauren are within the range of $1.5 million to $1.8 million each.

We have a feeling there are more ended sponsorships to come.