Lochte et al: Nullify their Olympic medals

[Cyrano]

The IOCC needs to "take away" the Olympic medals won by Lochte and his idiot friends who were all in on the lie of being robbed at gunpoint.

The American woman who stopped in the middle of a race to help a New Zealand woman, after both had fallen, showed the true meaning of (what is supposedly) the Olympic spirit.

Lochte and the other Americans with him have stained that Olympic spirit.

Brazil is far from being a wealthy country, yet , they've done everything possible to put on a good Olympics that would make them proud. (This is the first Olympics to be held in South America.) World class assholes like Lochte and his fellow team mates, in their lies, have spit on a country striving for recognition and respect.

In turning their drunken recklessness into a supposed robbery at gun point, they have pulled attention away from all the competitors who spent their young lives working towards a seemingly impossible dream. And they have taken a huge dump on Brazil's efforts to make this Olympics safe and something in which they could take pride.

Screw Lochte. Screw his fellow lying turds. They don't deserve the medals they are wearing. Those medals should be declared null and void. I don't know if the IOCC can do that, but they should do whatever it is in their power to do to highlight these disgusting competitors. Even if it's just an asterisk next to their names in the record books, -- asterisks that will forever be seen as a stain on their names.

[tonyt53]

1. They are shitheads, but they won the medals before this incident. Dumb shitheads at that.

[jberryhill]

2. You get a medal for winning the event, not for being a model human being

The Moral Olympics are next year.

[Cyrano]

6. Then it's time to stop all the

bullshit about how the Olympics represents the best in human beings.

It's an implied and sometimes spoken concept. Given these assholes, why would anyone buy into it?

[B2G]

16. Because for the most part it does.

But hey, go ahead and let a few bad apples color you perception of all of the athletes.

I mean, it wouldn't be wrong to generalize like that, would it?

[jberryhill]

20. Anything involving humans involves humans

In the event you didn't notice, there were more than four people involved in the Olympics.

I guess I don't understand what I'm being asked to "buy into", just to watch a bunch of sports, but whatevs.

[Travis_0004]

59. You should have figgured out nobody cares when they allowed hope solo to compete

[yeoman6987]

61. You would think he killed someone. Sheesh.

[FSogol]

82. 5,000 athletes from every place in the world and we should cancel it because of

one stupid frat boy and his friends?

Why focus on the negative?

[citood]

3. Just did a spittake

"Lochte and the other Americans with him have stained that Olympic spirit."

The IOC regularly 'stains' the Olympic spirit.

Case no. 4,375:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/olympics-2016/ioc-chief-patrick-hickey-arrested-over-illegal-ticket-sales-in-rio/news-story/5b8081c8a310f296fb29fd1160feb473

[demmiblue]

4. Not gonna happen... this is just silly. n/t

[Ilsa]

5. Their stupid, unethical behavior was

Unrelated to their swimming performance. I doubt they'll lose their medals.

And I doubt they'll get lucrative endorsement contracts, too.

[Cyrano]

10. At least they won't go through life

bragging about their Olympic medals.

They will constantly have to worry about someone bringing up all of what they did in Rio.

[Ilsa]

34. Yes, at least for the first decade.

I can get past the drunkeness, but the valdalism, fight, then lies, and the nature of the lies - to embarass the host city - are indicative of poor judgment and questionable character. I hope they are ashamed of themselves.

[LoverOfLiberty]

71. Questionable character

from those who have been given so much and have supposedly learned self discipline.

Shame, really.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

7. No way

They earned the medals.

[mythology]

8. And all the mockery they get for this stupidity

[SickOfTheOnePct]

11. Agreed n/t

[Dreamer Tatum]

9. Silly post nt

[Cyrano]

12. Silly reply

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. Why not take away my medals, then? nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. Ok, please return one DUzy award to Grovelbot.

Then all will be right with the world.

[HERVEPA]

77. Nope, excellent reply.

[NightWatcher]

14. So Olympians who didn't win medals get to run wild and be shit heads?

If the penalty is loss of a medal, maybe they could rob a souvenir stand or mug a local.

But Nightwatcher, those two things (medals and misdemeanors) are unrelated.

Uh huh.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

15. 1968 - Olympic protestors stripped of their medals

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/olympic-protestors-stripped-of-their-medals

On October 17, 1968, Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos are forced to return their awards because they raised their fists in a black-power salute during the medal ceremony.

[Cyrano]

18. Thanks, Buckeye_Dem. That's the point I'm trying to make.

[jberryhill]

21. That involved behavior actually conducted in the program

Aside from being a wrong decision which has long been criticized in the first place, I guess what we are going to have to do is to assign each medal-winning athlete a minder to follow them around for a sufficient period in order to make sure they don't do something untoward.

[B2G]

23. So I assume you think stripping those athletes of their medals

was the right thing to do. So the swimmers should have theirs taken away too. For consistency sake.

Do I have your point right?

[B2G]

19. Precedent does not make it right. nt

[jberryhill]

22. It's not even relevant "precedent"

If Lochte et. al. had vandalized the podium during the ceremony, that would be relevant.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

26. Putting your fist in the air with your head down isn't vandalism.

Good grief.

[jberryhill]

35. Who said it was?

The poster was claiming that (a) the revocation of medals for behavior during the Olympics themselves was "precedent" for (b) revocation of medals based on behavior having nothing to do with the conduct of the Olympics.

Lochte et al. vandalized a gas station nowhere near the Olympics, and not during conduct of any Olympic event or ceremony.

This is not a comparison of "putting your fist in the air" and "vandalism". It was a response to the notion that "conduct during an event or ceremony" has anything to do with "conduct occurring elsewhere on their own time" somehow renders one to establish some kind of "precedent" for the other.

I'm going to assume you simply didn't read the thread.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

39. Nope, I just assumed that you thought the 1968 event was vandalism.

You clarified it. Thanks.

I honestly don't care what happens to Lochte's medals either way, but I disagree with your assessment that the precedent isn't applicable. That's your line of reasoning, but someone else could use a line of reasoning based on which act was more damaging.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

24. I never said that.

It's just an example of it happening in the past, so it wouldn't be without precedent if it did happen.

I personally don't care very much either way. I watched about a grand total of 15 minutes of the Olympics this year, by far the least of my entire life except for baby and preschool years.

[hack89]

37. And that decision was a travesty.

lets not perpetuate it.

[DinahMoeHum]

40. Sorry, but History Channel is WRONG and unreliable.

Smith and Carlos were NOT stripped of their medals
They were kicked off the US team, kicked out of the Olympic Village and kicked out of Mexico for their protest.

They are still listed as medal winners in ALL Olympic accounts. Unless they had been caught cheating (using performance enhancing drugs, etc) the IOC would have had no jurisdiction whatsoever to strip them of their medals.

John Carlos's website:
http://www.johncarlos68.com/

[Buckeye_Democrat]

43. THANK YOU! I apologize for sharing it! It's outrageous...

... that History Channel got it so wrong!! It was also one of the first links when I Googled past revocations of medals.

Here's an old NYT article that supports your claim:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1018.html

Ruby said today he had tried to arrange a meeting with the two athletes, but had been rebuffed. No attempt will be made to deprive them of their medals, he added, because "we have no right to take away their medals."

In that case, there may not be a precedent? Other than cheating in the events?

[DinahMoeHum]

46. You're welcome. Let's also consider who the IOC head was at that time. . .

. . .Avery Brundage, formerly head of the AOC/USOC, and an out-and-out racist/anti-Semitic pig and fascist sympathizer.

Plenty of dirt about that guy that can be easily looked up in books and the internet.

[Nye Bevan]

17. Medals should only be taken away for actual cheating in the event,

like taking PEDs for example. Lochte may be a jerk but he won his medals fair and square.

[backscatter712]

25. What are the usual penalties the IOC imposes?

I'm assuming they include fines, and being kicked off the US Olympic team.

Also, just remember, Lochte's lost millions of dollars in endorsement deals. He's not getting his pic on boxes of Wheaties anymore...

[DinahMoeHum]

47. Methinks the jurisdiction here is with USA Swimming. . .

. . .and the USOC. Not the IOC.

USA Swimming issued a statement the other day, but it's a safe bet that they are considering some kind of sanctions against Lochte and co.
My guess is that the swimmers involved will face fines and suspensions from the USA team.

http://www.usaswimming.org

[backscatter712]

49. Seems fair. Right now, we've got the Internet Lynch Mob frothing at the mouth.

Realistically, we're talking about low-level drunken douchebaggery. Fines and suspensions, along with paying reparations to that gas station for the damage they've caused, seems like a fair punishment.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

50. Yep

Plus, I'm curious as to what's on the 3 or so minutes of missing video. The swimmers were drunken assholes for vandalizing the bathroom, no doubt, but given that Brazil extorted $11,000 from one swimmer just to get out of the damned country, I'm wondering if they were in fact robbed at gunpoint by the security guards.

[OBenario]

56. LOL

The four of them said they weren't robbed. But... believe in the fairy tales that are more appropriated for your American ego as you want.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

62. Nothing to do with my ego

It's more about a country that's about as corrupt as they come.

[OBenario]

68. Oh, another xenophobic remark...

It must hurt a lot for you to be acting as such a baby.

Were you the president of Locthe's official fan club?

[SickOfTheOnePct]

74. Nope, I don't reallly follow swimming

And how is it xenophobic to state a recognized fact, i.e., that Brazil is a very corrupt country? It's not like that's a secret.

[OBenario]

80. I see...

So I guess it's ok to say that Americans are all murderers, right.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

83. Sure you can

But with Brazil's murder rate standing at more than six times that of the U.S., it would be pretty laughable to do so.

[OBenario]

84. Not a problem.

Add the millions US has killed in its eternal wars to steal oil, resources, etc. and we're done.

[Warpy]

27. I know you want to hit back, but it's not likely to happen

My guess is that the overgrown teenager is persona non grata in Brazil for the rest of his life.

If he doesn't find a reason to grow up soon, he's going to wind up in jail. Thirtysomething teenagers usually do.

[Cyrano]

30. You seem to have put it in perspective, Warpy

[oberliner]

28. Um, no

This is preposterous.

[MohRokTah]

29. IF they had done it before they won the medals, I would go along with this. eom

[Thinkingabout]

32. Unrelated, if there was some type of doping for the event then it would be in violation of the rules

This was separate. In case of auto accident clearly the responsibility is placed on the other party and if you are cited hours later for speeding then it should not reverse the responsibility in the earlier accident.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

33. Irony alert

"World class assholes like Lochte and his fellow team mates, in their lies, have spit on a country striving for recognition and respect." (bolding added by me)

Yeah, nothing inspires recognition and respect like extortion.

[OBenario]

36. There was no extortion.

The babies tried to leave the gas station after what they did, were stopped by security, BEGGED the gas station staff no to call the police and offered to pay COMPENSATION FOR THE DAMAGES they caused.

The gas staff accepted in order to help them saving their butts.

They probably didn't realize the guy was such an idiot he would tell that fairy tale of macho-man, guns in his head, thieves disguised of police to international press and his mommy...

Oh, I doubt the money they accepted to handle really will pay for the damages. It won't cover a single door.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

41. You need to keep up

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-rio-summer-olympics/jimmy-feigen-u-s-swimmer-lochte-scandal-pays-leave-rio-n634201

One of the swimmers had to "donate" $11,000 to a charity in order to get his passport back and get the hell out of Brazil.

That's extortion.

The swimmers were absolutely wrong to do what they did and then lie about it, but fuck Brazil.

[OBenario]

42. I see. Thought they were still deciding about that.

But, yes, it's either fine or three years in jail for reporting false crimes.

It's not extortion, it's called law.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

45. It's extortion, plain and simple

Not surprising for Brazil, but I would think they would want to act a little out of character when the whole world is watching.

[OBenario]

51. Nope, it isn't.

I'm pretty sure that if I destroy private property in the US I have to pay damages, fine or going to jail as well.

Unless you consider yourselves as "exceptional", which, of course, is ridiculous.

We are receiving a lot of messages of support from around the world after this incident. People are horrified by the lies of the US Olympic team.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

54. If extortion's your game

Brazil's your name.

[OBenario]

55. Look, pal...

... I know your mamma, TV, media, etc. told you that you are special and above laws.

But that's stupid and means nothing outside your borders.

Your 30s year old babies vandalized a gas station, tried to evade the scene and made a false communication of crime to media. That's not enough?

And you are here "but, but, but... punishing our babies is extortion, oh my god, they are victims". Please... it's pathetic...

[SickOfTheOnePct]

63. Nope, no one is special and above the law

Not American athletes and not even the corrupt Brazilians.

[OBenario]

67. Calling Brazilians "corrupt" is XENOPHOBIC.

Grow a moral spin. Cut the bullshit. Grow up, will you.

[jcgoldie]

64. Thats ridiculous

They committed a crime and then agreed to pay to avoid charges. In the United States thats called a plea bargain not "extortion".

[SickOfTheOnePct]

66. Do you really believe the U.S

would hold someone's passport and extort $11,000 for false reporting of a crime?

No question, I would have paid the money too, rather than try to take on the corrupt criminal justice system in Brazil, but that doesn't change the fact that they extorted money.

[jcgoldie]

72. They committed a crime

And made an ass of themselves. This has nothing to do with Brazil's criminal justice system. It has to do with asshole entitled American athletes.

[sarisataka]

52. Has there been a trail

Or is it not needed if there was an admission of filing a false report?
(serious question. Many assume laws are the same world wide. I know basic laws is several countries but not Brazil)

[OBenario]

53. The public prosecutor offered an agreement.

In Brazil, before presenting charges and going to trial, the accused has the right, according to the offense, to reach a deal. Pay a fine or compensation and the charges are dismissed, as long as it has been the 1st offense.

[sarisataka]

58. Thank you

That sheds another beam of light.

I am reserving judgement still however I also understand local laws apply, not US law. What might be considered "unfair" here is perfectly legal in other countries and vice versa.

[Philly-Union-Man]

38. That's ridiculous.

They won them in fair competition. You don't have to be a smart guy or a nice guy to physically beat someone in a race or in a ring.


No, this is an absurd suggestion.

[mentalsolstice]

44. Does that mean Phelps also has to give up a gold medal for the relay?

Lochte's gold medal came from being a part of the 4x200 metre freestyle relay. By your reasoning, all who were on that team should be disqualified. So, no I'm sorry but your proposition is pure bullshit!

[cwydro]

48. He's a complete ass.

At 32, he set a very poor example for the 20 year olds he was hanging with. Pathetic.

But no, he won the medal.

[saidsimplesimon]

57. Thank you Cyrano

Facts are everyone's friend. As an American, I am both disappointed and appalled that a few taint the accomplishments of our fellow citizens.

[DrDan]

60. sorry - not going to happen - nor should it

even cretins win athletic contests

[roamer65]

65. Simply not going to happen.

With Michael Phelps' infractions, the IOC came out and said it is not their jurisdiction. If any sanctions happen, it will be from USA Swimming. They were the ones who suspended Phelps for his DUI.
USA Swimming does not have the power to remove Olympic titles.

[Takket]

69. They all ran good clean races. The IOC is not in the business of judging

athlete's moral character outside of the sport(s). Nor should it be.

[tavernier]

70. He will get to keep his medals.

But he'll lose millions in sponsorships.

Since swimming doesn't provide a lot of future lucrative opportunities such as other sports might, he pretty much was counting on these Olympics to make hay. That's gone now. Pretty stiff price to pay for one drunken night.

I don't think the others will be judged so severely.

[HereSince1628]

75. I'd have him pay taxes on the income/medals and fines for the vandalism first.

Why should we as taxpayers lose out?

[Hoyt]

76. They should be treated as poor examples of decent Americans. Probably show up standing behind Trump.

They'll be appreciated by that crowd as Olympic medal winners, but mostly as publicly trashing a South American country.

[LisaL]

78. Lochte won a gold medal, but since it was as part of relay, are you suggesting that all four

athletes should lose medals?

[Adrahil]

79. Lol... No.

And an olympics to be proud of? It was a shit show.

They couldn't keep the pools from turning green FFS.

Yes, I know they are a poor nation. Don't host an Olympics, which costs billions and billions, then!

[Amishman]

81. NO. medals should never be taken away for anything other than cheating in the event

the Olympics is supposed to rise above politics. Taking away medals for anything that did not impact the outcome of the event would shit all over that concept.