There were a lot of impressive stories from the Rio Olympics last month. Michael Phelps won five gold medals, bringing his total gold medal count to 23, adding to his legacy as the most decorated Olympian ever.
Usain Bolt went on to win all three of his events for the third summer Olympics in a row. He probably could have stopped to sign autographs and still won those races.
The United States women’s gymnastics team also lived up to its potential and has been called by many experts the greatest gymnastics team in Olympic history.
But the top story that came out of the Olympic Games? United States swimmer Ryan Lochte’s drunken midnight fiasco with three friends from the United States swim team.
Before the Olympics started, I told myself I probably wouldn’t watch much at all. That turned out to be a complete lie. My co-workers and I would choose where to go to lunch based on who had the nicest televisions so we could watch while we ate. I stayed up late on work nights since some of the best events to watch were on at ridiculous hours.
However, even before they started, back when I said I would hardly watch at all, Lochte was one of the athletes that I planned to make time to see.
Feel free to judge because I absolutely deserve it, but a few years ago Lochte had a reality show on E! Network and I would watch with my mom and sister. It was hilarious.
He was the kind of guy who was funny without meaning to be. He probably doesn’t have a future in astrophysics or brain surgery after his swimming career, but who cares. He’s a character.
Fast forward to the 2016 Olympics and Lochte is the first person in history to start a disruption in international affairs because of a lie he or she told his or her mother. Feel free to fact-check me on that.
The story broke when Lochte’s mother happened to be sitting next to a reporter on a bus in Rio and blurted out the fabricated version of the so-called “robbery” that her son had been a victim of. Lochte stuck with the story until the undeniable video evidence was released. The footage revealed that the robbery at gunpoint was really just Lochte paying for a sign that he had broken after relieving himself on the side of a gas station.
The whole thing was a mess. A little humorous? Yes, particularly if you knew who Lochte was before the incident.
I still feel a little bad for the guy after the whole catastrophe. He lost all his major sponsorships within a week.
However, it was a shame that all the great, historic things that happened at the Games were overshadowed by this incident. It’s very easy to say we will never see athletes like Phelps or Bolt again in our lifetimes and yet this story headlined the news for the entire second half of the Olympics.
Not that it’s been a problem before, but hopefully this serves as a reminder to athletes competing in 2020 that they’re not there to film “The Hangover 4,” but to represent the United States.
Luckily for Lochte, he’s already bouncing back and ready to begin his stint on “Dancing with the Stars,” so there really is a silver lining to everything in this world.

KYLE JOSEPH
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