Ryan Lochte, the world and Olympic champion swimmer whose false story about being robbed at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in Brazil brought a 10-month ban, returned to the pool on Saturday at the US Open meet.
Two days after his 33rd birthday, Lochte finished fifth in the men’s 100m backstroke, clocking 55.16 seconds in a final won by two-time Olympic medalist Arkady Vyatchanin of Serbia in 53.91 seconds.
“It’s a good starting point,” said Lochte, who was to race yesterday in the 200m individual medley in the meet at Nassau County Aquatics Center in suburban New York.
Photo: AP
“That’s what I wanted to do coming into this meet. Doing that little of training and being able to go that time ... I’ve still got something there,” Lochte said.
Lochte, who intends his comeback to propel him into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, told USA Swimming that he is ready to battle back after a humiliating finish to his Brazil experience last year.
“Whatever happens, I’m going to take it with a grain of salt and keep moving forward,” Lochte said in a video posted on the governing body Web site. “One of the biggest things I’ve learned throughout the past year is I’m a fighter. I will always get back up. And I’m back.”
Lochte made headlines around the world — and deeply embarrassed organizers — when he claimed that he and three other US swimmers were robbed after a night of revelry during the Rio Games last year.
Brazilian police later determined, in part based on surveillance video, that Lochte had largely fabricated the story.
He was charged with making a false crime report, but a Rio appeals court threw that case out last month.
After the ban, Lochte competed on Dancing With the Stars and became a father, with son Caiden being born two months ago.
“I want to show him if you keep working at something, you can achieve anything,” Lochte said. “That’s why I got back into the pool. Every stroke I take, it’s for him.”
Lochte said he is a changed man from the one whose embarrassing tale led to false robbery claim charges a year ago.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB