Ryan Lochte will not be competing in the Olympics this summer, and his career in the Olympic Games is likely over. The 36-year-old swimmer took part in the 200-meter individual medley at the U.S. Olympic Trials over the weekend and finished seventh. Lochte recorded a time of 1:59.67, which is nearly six seconds off the world record he still holds at a time of 1:54.00 from the 2011 World Championships.
After the race, Lochte was emotional as he wanted to take part in the Tokyo Olympics. “I really wanted to be on this Olympic team,” Lochte said, per ESPN. “This is probably my most important swim meet that I’ve ever had in my entire career, the one that meant the most to me. So falling short and feeling like I let everyone down was one of the hardest things.”
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Lochte has had a very successful career, but his legacy took a hit during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. While with his friends in Rio one night, Lochte lied about being robbed at gunpoint. The story fell apart quickly, leading to Lochte’s life going out of control. But since then, Lochte has started to turn things around, getting married and raising a family with two kids.
“I had my family there,” Lochte said. “My kids got to watch their daddy swim, so that means everything to me.” Lochte mentioned that he’s not sure about competing for the Olympics again, but he still wants to swim on a high level. “I still want to race, but as far as another Olympic trials, I don’t know about that,” Lochte said. “I’ll be [almost] 40. That’s pushing it.”
Lochte won a total of 12 Olympic medals in four different Olympic games. Of the 12 medals, six are gold, three are silver and three are bronze. Lochte is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history when it comes to medals. The first is longtime rival Michael Phelps who won 28 medals.
Last year, Lochte talked about the Olympics being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As soon as I saw it I was disappointed. I mean, I have trained four years for this moment, and this is probably one of my biggest Olympics — that I have ever had in my career,” Lochte said. “But this is bigger than me, this is bigger than the Olympians. This is affecting the entire world. And right now our main thing is staying safe and staying healthy.”
