Lochte up abroad?

The Olympics usually draw a lot of attention, not only to the games but also to the competing athletes personally. Apparently the public just loves to get to know all about them, including me (yes, I love a bit of gossip). All of this celebrity gossip can bring some embarrassing stories to light. And who doesn't love a good scandal, right? You know, those stories that start out seemingly  innocent, but turn out to be quite ugly as they unfold. Today I would like to discuss one of these stories.

(Source: Flickr, by Carlbob)

Ryan Lochte

The case concerns swimmer and Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte. During this year's Olympics, Lochte claimed he and three of his swimming teammates had been robbed at gunpoint in Rio, while being out celebrating. Yet, Brazilian authorities couldn't find any evidence that supported their robbery story. The media loved it and started speculating about whether Lochte had made up the story or not. Gradually more details became apparent, concerning what exactly had happened and where everything had taken place. In the mean time Lochte kept adjusting details of his version of the story, well, he basically adjusted his whole story.

So, what actually happened?

It turns out they had drunkenly trashed a gas station and had fought with a security guard. After refusing to pay for the damage, they probably made up the complete robbery story. Brazilian authorities got ready to bring in Lochte and his teammates for questioning. It's safe to say that Ryan got very lucky, as he made it back to the U.S.A. just in time not to get 'Lochte up abroad' (I didn't make this up, but it's hilarious). The punishment he eventually received was a ten month suspension from competing in swimming.

                                                                              

Ryan Lochte during the 2012 Olympics (Source: Flickr, by NRC photos)

Ryan... Why?

So, what exactly went wrong here? I don't think you need to be a genius to see that Ryan Lochte acted quite stupidly.  First of all, his drunk behavior was very immature. But in my opinion, with some good PR he could have recovered from that.

Second, he lied about everything  that took place repeatedly. Myers (2016) investigated 'admitting your fault' in PR practice, as it has been a frequently used strategy in court for years. Turns out it might not be a bad idea to just admit you were wrong and apologize right away.

Third, being a famous athlete didn't help him at all in this case, as it gave him a LOT of media coverage. This is what Osborne et. al (2016) only recently investigated. Their research revealed  that the news value of the celebrity athlete contributes to the amount of media attention. Celebrity status, combined with any other news value, influences the amount of articles appearing in newspapers.  

Conclusion: The next time you decide to behave stupidly Ryan, you might not be able to prevent the media from talking about it, but at least don't lie about it! 
By the way readers, if you want to have a good laugh, check out this page.

About the author:
Fré enjoys sports,  travelling, and good food. Being a BSc in Communication science, she has been working in corporate communication and marketing. She is currently a Master student Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam.