Olympic medalist joins “Dancing with the Stars”
Lochte raises questions with his recent announcement on his actions and intentions. | PC: bostonglobe.com
12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte has officially been revealed to be one of the celebrity contestants to appear on the 23rd season of “Dancing with the Stars.” Lochte, who just finished his last run at the 2016 Rio Games, grabbed a gold medal in the men’s freestyle relay at Rio this summer. But before returning home, he made another splash in newspaper headlines that wasn’t as worthy to write home about.
As the games came to an end, Lochte and a few of his teammates stirred up some trouble on a night out on the town that ended with a vandalized bathroom, the group being held at gunpoint and detainment by authorities. Further investigations concluded the stories given from Lochte and his teammates had been greatly exaggerated.
Authorities in Rio declared a press conference over allegedly fabricated reports, which resulted in Lochte losing four sponsor deals and gaining bad publicity.
Before announcing his position on the reality show, Lochte again apologized for the incident he caused in Rio, and he urges America to move on from the subject.
Nevertheless, some wonder if he’s using this opportunity to regain the trust of America and his teammates and rebuild his now tarnished reputation.
A few students on Union campus are unaware of this development. Alyssa Luna, a sophomore biomedical science major, seemed confused when asked how she felt about the situation. “If he’s going to be on the show then why not? He still messed up and this probably won’t change it that much,” she shares.
Lochte’s appearance on “Dancing with the Stars” is putting him back into the public, but in a new limelight. There’s no room for errors or goofing off, and if he can play his cards right, he might even be able to come back looking even better than before.
With this new opportunity to redevelop a positive image for himself, he might have the chance to put all the rumors behind him.
Caroline Guchu is a sophomore studying communication.