Lochte suspended after posting photo of IV online

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Ryan Lochte posted a photo for the world to see, and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency noticed.

It got him suspended — again.

The longtime U.S. swimming star has been banned from competition until July 2019, which means the 12-time Olympic medallist cannot compete as planned in the national championships that start this week in California. Lochte will also be ineligible for other top meets, including the Pan Pacific Championships later this year and next year’s world championships.

Lochte’s offence was that he got an intravenous injection in May — a method typically banned under anti-doping rules. The 14-month ban, retroactive to May 24 and announced Monday by USADA, is his second in less than two years following his 10-month suspension for his behaviour during a drunken incident that created widespread scorn at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

U.S. anti-doping officials said Lochte, who was holding a news conference Monday in South Florida to discuss the matter, was not taking a banned substance.

In Brazil, there were questions about his version of what happened.

This time, he revealed what happened — obviously unaware of the ramifications it would bring.

Lochte’s violation essentially came to light when he posted the photo of him getting the IV on his social media accounts. That triggered the USADA investigation, one that Lochte “fully co-operated” with according to U.S. officials.

“Lochte received an intravenous infusion of permitted substances at an infusion clinic,” the USADA announcement of the suspension said. Under most circumstances, athletes cannot receive IVs unless related to a hospitalization or when allowed under the terms of a USADA-approved exemption — and Lochte fell into neither of those categories.

Suspensions for use of an IV are extremely rare: The USADA database shows only two other athletes being sanctioned for using such a method, one of them getting a six-month suspension and the other a 14month ban. That same database shows that before Monday, no other U.S. swimmer in the last 10 years, for any reason including actual positive tests, had been suspended for more than one year by USADA.

This week could have been a significant step forward for Lochte, who was entered in four events at the U.S. championships at Irvine, California and was preparing to compete in what would have been his biggest competition since the Rio Games.

Lochte forfeited $100,000 in Olympic medal bonus money and was banned from competing in last year’s national and world championships. But the bigger hit was to his reputation, one that was less than pristine to begin with.

And now, he’s back in hot water.