A gold medal for shame

If there were a gold medal for dodging blame, it would go to American Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte, who concocted a story about how he and his teammates were robbed at gunpoint.

Lochte, Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and Jimmy Feigen were returning to the Olympic village from a party and stopped at a gas station. Lochte told his parents that the athletes were pulled from their taxi and robbed at gunpoint. The incident was not reported to Brazilian police, but came to light when Lochte’s mother spoke of it to reporters.

But Lochte’s story seemed to shift with each telling, and police eventually determined that the Americans were not robbed, but went on a drunken vandalism spree at the service station. They were questioned by armed guards before they paid for damages and left.

Lochte left the country before he could be questioned, but police said Conger and Bentz told authorities the story of the robbery had been fabricated.

The incident cast a cloud over the Rio Games, especially since the story was believable — Brazilians had endured months of scrutiny about whether athletes and tourists would be safe, given the country’s long history of violence and crime.

The Olympics are about being the best you can be, and the athletes involved in the fracas were all gold-medal winners. But their victories apparently didn’t take them to greater heights, at least not in the behaviour category.

Perhaps they were celebrating, and liquor-fuelled celebrating went too far. It happens; apologies and payment for damages would have done much to compensate.

But Lochte’s explanation that the athletes were robbed was an act of cowardice. He apologized for his behaviour, but only after the facts came to light.

Lochte is a 12-time Olympic medal winner, but those medals are irreparably tarnished. Endorsements are a major source of income for gold medallists, but who will want the endorsement of a liar?

He tried to evade punishment for his actions, but he can’t escape karma.