Ryan Lochte suspended until July 2019 for use of IV
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 12time Olympic medalist 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.
He did not take a banned substance. But he got an intravenous injection of vitamins in May — and since it exceeded 100 milliliters, no matter what was involved, he broke antidoping rules. Lochte said he took the IV because both his wife and his son were ill and had recently visited hospitals, and that he didn’t want to get sick as well. He said the IV contained B-12 and other vitamins that could be purchased at any pharmacy.
He and his wife both got IV infusions in Gainesville, Florida, he said, to bolster their immune systems.This time, he revealed what happened — obviously unaware of the ramifications it would bring. Lochte’s violation came to light when he posted the photo of him getting the IV on his social media accounts.
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 sixmonth suspension and the other a 14-month ban, just like Lochte. 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.