Olympian takes bighit

Four sponsors drop U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte after drunken incident in Rio

Less than 24 hours after the close of the Rio Olympics, Ryan Lochte took a major financial hit Monday for a drunken incident he initially tried to pass off as an armed robbery.

In quick succession, four sponsors announced they were dumping the swimmer, who has since apologized and conceded that he embellished what happened during a now-infamous stop at a Rio gas station.

Swimsuit company Speedo USA, clothing giant Ralph Lauren and skin-care firm SyneronCandela issued statements less than three hours apart, all with the same message: Lochte is out. Before the day was done, Japanese mattress maker airweave followed suit, essentially wiping out Lochte’s income away from the pool.

In addition, Speedo USA said $50,000 that would’ve gone to the 12-time Olympic medallist was being donated to Save The Children to benefit needy youngsters in Brazil.

“While we have enjoyed a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team, we cannot condone behaviour that In this June 26 file photo, Ryan Lochte swims during a preliminary heat in the Men’s 400-meter individual medley at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, in Omaha, Neb. achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience.”

Ralph Lauren, which provided the Polo-branded attire worn by the U.S. team at the opening and closing ceremonies, said it would not be renewing the contract that provided Lochte with financial support leading up to Rio.

The statement from airweave said it had a similar arrangement with the swimmer.

Both stressed they would continue their support of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams.

Syneron-Candela offers a line of skin-treatment products that deal with issues such as wrinkle reduction.

“We hold our employees to high standards, and we expect the same of our business partners,” the company said.

Lochte issued a statement through his public relations firm thanking Speedo USA for its long support.

He did not immediately address the other companies dropping their endorsements.

“I respect Speedo’s decision and am grateful for the opportunities that our partnership has afforded me over the years,” Lochte said. TORONTO — North American stock markets teetered back and forth for most of Monday’s session as traders resisted making any major moves ahead of a highly-anticipated speech by the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve. In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index gained 60.73 points at 14,748.19, helped by rising shares in Alimentation Couche-Tard and Valeant Pharmaceuticals. Both Quebec companies announced major news that investors took positively. LAVAL, Que. — Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc. (TSX:VRX) has appointed Paul Herendeen as its new chief financial officer, effective immediately, and reassigned the man who has been its CFO through a tumultuous period. Robert Rosiello, who was appointed Valeant’s CFO on July 1 of last year will remain at Valeant as executive vice-president for corporate development and strategy, reporting to CEO Joseph Papa, who joined the company in late April. The Quebec-based company is working to recover from a series of problems that emerged last September and continued into this year, driving down the company’s market value by about 90 per cent since last August.