LOCHTE SET FOR ABC’S ‘ DANCING WITH THE STARS’

Ryan Lochte is going on Dancing with the Stars, locking down a deal that was in the works before his Olympic saga, a person familiar with the deal confirmed to USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. The 23rd season of the show premieres Sept. 12. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the addition of the swimmer had not been announced publicly. Lochte, a 12- time Olympic medalist who was condemned in media reports around the world for exaggerating a true story, was dropped by four sponsors Monday after authorities in Rio de Janeiro declared in a jammed news conference last week that he had fabricated a report he and three U. S. swim teammates were held up at gunpoint by men with badges. Instead, the incident was portrayed as a case of vandalism — authorities said the swimmers trashed a bathroom and urinated against the building — and Lochte and Jimmy Feigen were accused of falsely claiming a robbery to cover up their misdeeds. The police said the men were detained by guards because Lochte had additionally damaged a poster. An investigation by USA TODAY Sports into the police account found the trashing of the bathroom never happened and police never asked the swimmers about it. The swimmers never entered the bathroom or even forced open the door, according to their testimonies to Rio authorities. Video doesn’t show them doing anything to the bathroom, and the only damage was to an advertising poster torn down by Lochte as the swimmers left. They urinated in bushes behind the building because the bathroom was locked, they said in statements to police. The swimmers, however, were detained by badge- carrying, armed prison guards working a private security detail, USA TODAY Sports confirmed. They were held at gunpoint as an intermediary worked out a deal for the swimmers to pay 160 reais, about $ 50, for the damage to the poster and be allowed to leave, they said in statements. Lochte, who acknowledged he’d been drinking, drew the ire of authorities when he incorrectly described the incident in an impromptu interview hours after it occurred, saying the men had been “pulled over” and he’d had a “gun to the forehead.” Neither of those details was correct. After the USA TODAY Sports investigation, others are speaking up on behalf of Lochte and his teammates.—

ROB SCHUMACHER, USA TODAY SPORTS U. S. swimmer Ryan Lochte has won 12 career Olympic medals.