Ryan Lochte: 200 Backstroke Gold Medal from 2008 Olympics is Missing

Anne Lepesant
by Anne Lepesant 36

September 17th, 2020 News

In this weekend’s episode of In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Ryan Lochte admitted that the gold medal he won in the 200 backstroke at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing is missing.

Lochte gave Bensinger a tour of his Gainesville, Florida home, where they looked through his Olympic gold medals. As he explained how he won each medal, he said that he had no idea where the 2008 gold was. “There is actually one missing, in 2008,” Lochte said. “And it is the gold. The 200 backstroke one. I don’t know where it is.” Later he added “I have a couple guesses.” When pressed by Bensinger, Lochte suggested it might have been taken by either his former agent or his mother. “Those are my guesses. They said they don’t have it but they have to. Those are the only two places [it] could have been.”

The home tour continued into his son Caiden’s room, where there is a framed cap that Pablo Morales signed and gave to Lochte in 1992. “This cap is basically where I wanted to become an Olympian and represent USA at the Olympics,” he reminisced. “I remember seeing him win and congratulating all the other swimmers… really good sportsmanship… and then walking along the pool deck and signing people’s caps and taking pictures. That is a hero. That is amazing. I was like, ‘I want to be just like him.’”

During the course of the full interview, in which he addressed topics such as being misled by Alex Rodriguez’s CNBC show ‘Back in the Game,’ the demise of his relationship with his mother, and other intimate details of his life, Lochte talked about his relationship with Michael Phelps. He contends that they enjoyed racing against each other and that the two competitors made each other better. He also talks about how much he likes Phelps today. “He likes to help now. He’s giving out pointers. He wants to be a role model for everyone.”

Lochte talked about his children, Caiden and Liv (“we call her Sissy”) and about teaching Kaden to swim.

Finally, he talked about his goals for Tokyo. “I feel like I have more to prove and more things to overcome than ever before.”

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Torchbearer
3 years ago

He will need to win another one then to replace it! 🙂

Scott Morgan
3 years ago

Lemme guess, robbed at gunpoint by thugs posing as police.

meeeee
3 years ago

He needs a reality show

Ryan
3 years ago

Interesting that lochte’s goal is to break his WR. His coach did say that there were signs in training that it would be possible so can’t wait to see!

Irish Ringer
Reply to  Ryan
3 years ago

I don’t know….he hasn’t been under a 1:56 since 2015, but he’ll drop a 1:53 in 2021? Admire the belief, but not seeing it happen. I think a 1:55 would be amazing for him at this point.

Terry Watts
3 years ago

Watching you own kids win gold is waaaaay better than winning them yourself… Keep up the good work, Ryan!

Entgegen
3 years ago

The recent documentary and these videos have really shed a new light on Lochte, one that most of us have not seen before: A responsible human being that has grown up through learning from mistakes. Yes, Lochte screwed up big time, but it seems now that he learned from it and moved on, so why can’t we?

Coach
Reply to  Entgegen
3 years ago

Because, extremely unfortunately, the monologue of the past continues.

As a wise philosopher once said, “live into now, man”

Yes, he’s done a ton of good before and since his error, and has apologized profusely. But he’ll never escape it and doom himself with the pressure of redemption with performance.

You’re a good person, man. Just be and focus on that good person. No matter what there will always be critics. But those critics will always be unsuccessful because their success depends on perceived failings. But that will never change the scores of people you’ve affected positively.

In the words of the hopelessly optimistic, “jeah”. There’s nothing to prove.

Ol' Longhorn
3 years ago

You take how fast he could swim a 50 SCY free all the way up to the 400 LCM IM, monster in SCY, SCM, LCM, great at all strokes including the 5th stroke — he might not have the most gold medals or most WRs, but he’s got to be the most talented male swimmer ever across all strokes and all courses. .

Aquajosh
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
3 years ago

He also was the SEC champion in the 1650 in 2003 (14:55) as a freshman and an NCAA finalist. He’s scored at NCAAs in every stroke but breaststroke. There aren’t many people now that can go under 20 in the 50 and under 15:00 in the mile, but he was doing it 15 years ago. It’s crazy to think he never even swam the backstrokes in championship meets until his junior year. Just insane range.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Aquajosh
3 years ago

Didn’t know about the 1650. As Marsh said about him “Ryan has a special relationship with the water.” Pretty much like no other.

6-Beat Kick
Reply to  Aquajosh
3 years ago

Didn’t know he swam the mile! I remember watching an old pixelated YouTube video of him destroying a 500 at some random meet he entered. Think he went a 4:12.

OLDBALDIMER
Reply to  Aquajosh
3 years ago

Impressive as Lochte can swim every stroke every distance!
from my era…..a swimmer named Larry Farrar from UNM in 1974 places 12th at NCAAs in the 50 free and the 1650. Not sure that has ever been done before or after at the same meet! The following year in 75 at NCAAs Larry won consoles (7th) in the 200 free splitting 50.0 and coming home in 49.6.

Yup
3 years ago

This…..is unsurprising…

About Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant

Anne Lepesant is the mother of four daughters, all of whom swam in college. With an undergraduate degree from Princeton (where she was an all-Ivy tennis player) and an MBA from INSEAD, she worked for many years in the financial industry, both in France and the U.S. Anne is currently …

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