Lochte’s 14-month doping ban
American swimmer Ryan Lochte has accepted a 14-month doping ban after he posted a picture on Instagram of himself and his wife receiving intravenous infusions, the United States Anti-doping Agency has confirmed.
Just as former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri discovered when he made the same mistake in 2016, IV drips or injections of more than 100millilitres of fluid in a 12-hour period are banned by the World Anti-doping Agency, even if the substances are legal.
In a statement, Usada said: “Ryan Lochte has accepted a 14-month sanction for his use of a prohibited method. On May 24, Lochte posted an image on social media depicting himself receiving an intravenous infusion. “A subsequent investigation by Usada, with which Lochte fully cooperated, revealed Lochte received an intravenous infusion of permitted substances at an infu- sion clinic in a volume greater than 100ml in a 12-hour period without a therapeutic use exemption.”
Lochte has won 12 Olympic medals and has been named swimmer of the year three times by Fina, the sport’s world governing body. But this is not his first scrape with controversy.
At the Rio Olympics in 2016, he invented a story to cover for a drunken night out with three teammates. Lochte claimed he and his friends had been robbed at gunpoint by men wearing police badges and uniforms but the story soon unravelled, provoking outrage in Brazil and embarrassment in the United States. He was given a 10-month ban by Swimming USA and may still face a criminal charge in Rio for filing a false police report.
To the surprise of many, though, he returned to swimming after his suspension and was scheduled to race at next week’s US Nationals. That is now impossible as he is banned from competition until July 23, 2019, not long before
his 35th birthday.