Attention Economy


Friday, August 19, 2016

Is There a Medal for Being the World’s Dumbest Athlete?

Lochte – The Obnoxious Buffoon
Sally Jenkins notes:
“Ryan Lochte is the dumbest bell that ever rang. The 32-year-old swimmer is so landlocked in juvenility that he pulled an all-nighter with guys young enough to call him uncle. His story to NBC’s Billy “what-are-you-wearing” Bush had the quality of a kid exaggerating the size of a fish, and notice how he was the hero of every detail. That was always the most dubious, implausible part.”

Marina Hyde's excellent piece on the Lochte affair:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/19/ryan-lochte-olympic-tale-gold-medals-white-privilege-rio

Related:
Swimmers tale of gunpoint robbery was apparently completely made-up.
“The Daily Mail, a British news outlet, reported, citing Brazilian police, that Lochte and the other swimmers damaged a gas station bathroom in the West Rio suburb of Barra de Tijuca and refused to pay for the damage until a security guard waved a gun at them and demanded payment. Brazilian news outlet O Globo reported, also citing police sources, that Lochte and his teammates urinated on the gas station’s building and vandalized the property…
In Brazil, however, outrage is mounting over the possibility that the American swimmers lied. The sense of indignation is heightened by the bad publicity Rio has received during the Games.”