Update: Austin Levingston has been removed from the U.S. Center for Safesport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database
Special Olympics swimmer Austin Levingston was issued a temporary suspension by the U.S. Center for SafeSport last week for unspecified allegations of misconduct.
Two years ago, Levingston had charges of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and lewd and lascivious behavior dropped. Prosecutors from his hometown of Great Bend, Kansas, have yet to respond to SwimSwam’s requests for comment about why those charges were dropped after they were initially filed in 2018. The alleged incident involving a young child took place in 2015.
Levingston was born with autism and has competed for the Barton County Storm Special Olympics team in the past. He also swam for Barton Community College and is a self-proclaimed “Paralympics hopeful.”
When his charges were dropped two summers ago, Levingston said the legal ordeal spoiled his dreams of competing at the Tokyo Olympics.
“On August 23rd 2018, I had my whole life upended when I was arrested and charged with child sex abuse after being falsely accused by 2 people and being forced into giving false statements to police,” Levingston wrote on Instagram. “I was held in jail for 86 days on a 500 thousand dollar bond before the judge finally lowered it and let me out and then after that, I was put on house arrest and held in my own house for 103 days. I faced life in prison, I couldn’t leave the state, I lost my job, I lost friends, I lost my swim career and my dream to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games were tarnished.”
Last month, Levingston posted an Instagram photo at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In 2016, Levingston left a viral comment on Michael Phelps’ Facebook page that led to a meeting with the 23-time Olympic gold medalist the following year. Last December, they caught up again via FaceTime.
Swimswam is a joke it’s trying to discrace a person creditably
My sport has a Special Olympics athlete banned by SafeSport. The prosecutor chose not to charge criminally because of limitations on intellectual capacity meaning the behavior didn’t meet the legal threshold for charges, but the behavior occurred at three facilities over two years and included aspects that were clearly premeditated and required the capacity to plan multi-step retaliation. Intellectual capacity may mean criminal charges aren’t appropriate but even if someone has intellectual disabilities, a facility/sport can’t allow an adult to repeatedly expose himself to young children as was the case with the athlete in my sport.
I don’t have ANY faith in SafeSport. They move SO slow to the detriment of ALL parties.
Cmon Zippo, lets hear your poem for this one
My boy Zippo got canceled sadly, bro needs to come back with sonnets on why Sun Yang will win the 400im in Paris
Can this be clarified- is this athlete an Olympic athlete or a Special Olympics athlete, or both?
Alright Lads….Not touching this one with a 10 foot pole