Ryan Lochte, the American swimmer who won six Olympic gold medals, accepted a 14-month suspension on Monday after posting a photo on Instagram in May showing him receiving an intravenous infusion. Though Lochte, 33, is not accused of taking an illegal substance, he violated a rule barring athletes from getting IVs unless they have been hospitalized or have received an exemption to get one, said the United States Anti-Doping Agency. “A subsequent investigation by USADA, with which Lochte fully cooperated, revealed that Lochte received an intravenous infusion of permitted substances at an infusion clinic in a volume greater than 100 milliliters in a 12-hour period without a therapeutic use exemption,” the organization said. The suspension put the brakes on a planned comeback after a 10-month suspension in September 2016 that he received for lying to the police about being robbed at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics during a night of drinking that summer. Last month, Brazil’s Superior Court gave prosecutors permission to pursue criminal charges against Lochte for falsely reporting a crime.

Source: New York Times July 23, 2018 17:24 UTC