Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte is receiving “professional assistance” to address his “alcohol addiction,” his lawyer told TMZ on Friday.
Jeff Ostrow told TMZ that the swimmer has been dealing with the addiction for years and that he is “getting help immediately.”
"Ryan has been battling alcohol addiction for many years and unfortunately it has become a destructive pattern for him,” Ostrow said. "He has acknowledged that he needs professional assistance to overcome his problem and will be getting help immediately."
Lochte, 34, has won 12 medals in the Olympics, including six golds, three silvers and three bronzes.
Lochte was at the center of a scandal at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 when he and three teammates were involved in a gas station incident after a night out partying after the swimming competition had concluded. Lochte embellished details of his story in which he allegedly knocked over an advertising poster, including saying in a TV interview that security guards put a gun to his forehead. Lochte then served a 10-month suspension from the U.S. national swim team.
Lochte received a suspension announced in July and retroactive to May 24 by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for 14 months after receiving an intravenous infusion without a therapeutic use exemption.
"Ryan knows that conquering this disease now is a must for him to avoid making future poor decisions, to be the best husband and father he can be, and if he wants to achieve his goal to return to dominance in the pool in his fifth Olympics in Tokyo in 2020,” Ostrow told TMZ.
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