Lochte suspended for 10 months

Result of gas station incident

Twelve-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte has been suspended 10 months for the gas station incident that became an embarrassment during the Rio Olympics, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.

The punishment was handed down by the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Swimming.

Lochte also will be banned from the world championship meet in Budapest next July.

TMZ.com was the first to report the length of the suspension.

The four swimmers were involved in the incident after partying following the end of the Olympic swimming competition. Lochte’s mother, Ileana Lochte, told USA TODAY Sports her son had been robbed. Fox Australia first reported the incident. Lochte later revised his account of what happened and acknowledged he exaggerated some details. But he stood by his story that he and his teammates were detained at gunpoint and forced to pay money so they could leave.

Rio authorities began their own investigation, and alleged at a news conference that the swimmers had filed a false police report. Authorities later said that only Lochte and Jimmy Feigen had made false statements to police, and Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger were regarded as witnesses.

At the news conference, Rio police chief Fernando Veloso said the athletes had broken into the restroom and vandalized a soap dispenser and mirror.

A USA TODAY Sports investigation of witness accounts, official reports and surveillance videos supported Bentz’s claim that he did not see anyone vandalize the gas station restroom. It concluded the framework of what Lochte said was true — the swimmers were in a taxi that was prevented from leaving the gas station by an armed man who flashed a badge and ordered them out of the car, and that they were held at gunpoint and forced to pay money, about $50, for damaging the sign. Video showed a security guard did aim his gun at Lochte’s head, though it was not “to the forehead,” as Lochte initially said. There was no evidence the swimmers entered the restroom.

The swimmers said they stopped at the gas station because they needed to urinate, and said they did so in bushes behind the building after finding the restroom locked.

Legal experts and a Brazilian judge have told USA TODAY Sports that the actions of the guards that night may have been illegal.

Rio authorities say they will pursue a case against Lochte for filing a false police report, but Lochte’s legal team disputes that the swimmer made false statements to police.