OLYMPIC SWIMMER RYAN LOCHTE LOSES SPEEDO, RALPH LAUREN ENDORSEMENTS

Olympic swimmer and Gold Medalist Ryan Lochte has lost two of his most important apparel sponsorships, Ralph Lauren and Speedo, after lying last week about being robbed in Rio de Janiero during the 2016 Summer Olympics games. Instead, Lochte and three other U.S. Olympians allegedly vandalized a local gas station and covered up the incident with the robbery story.

Speedo, in a post on the company’s Twitter account, not only announced its decision to end its sponsorship of the swimmer, but added they will donate a $50,000 portion of Lochte’s fee to Save The Children, a global charity partner of Speedo USA’s parent in company, for children in Brazil. In its statement, Speedo wrote: “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 behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for. We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from his experience.”

According to various media reports, Ralph Lauren, who said their deal with Lochte was meant to only cover the 2016 Olympics, said in a statement on Monday that they would not be renewing their contract with the swimmer. They also removed Lochte’s photo from their Twitter account.