Ryan Lochte has openly admitted that he was in a bad place mentally after his embarrassing incident in Rio last summer, but the six-time gold medalist insists he never considered taking his own life.
In a lengthy interview with ESPN that was released this week, Lochte told Allison Glock that he was so depressed at times after Rio that he didn’t care if he lived or not. When Lochte was asked if that meant he considered suicide, Glock says he nodded his head.
“After Rio, I was probably the most hated person in the world,” Lochte mumbles. “There were a couple of points where I was crying, thinking, ‘If I go to bed and never wake up, fine.'” Asked if that means he considered suicide, Lochte nods slowly. “I was about to hang up my entire life.”
Apparently that portion of Lochte’s conversation with ESPN was taken out of context. On Wednesday, the 32-year-old told TMZ Sports that suicide never entered his mind.
“To be clear, yes I was in a very dark place after Rio, but I never thought about taking my own life,” he said. “That’s the media twisting what I told ESPN. I would never do that. That’s not me.”
Lochte added that he always knew he would get through what he describes as the most difficult time of his life.
“I’m a fighter, always have been, and always will be,” he said. “I knew that I would do whatever necessary to get through that horrible time, and most importantly to once again earn the trust of my friends, family, and the public, who have always been so supportive of me.”
If the conversation with Glock happened exactly how she described it, it’s hard to see where the misunderstanding came in. Considering the way he lied about the gas station incident in Rio, it might bother some people that Lochte seemingly changed his tune about a serious issue like suicide.
