Ryan Lochte revealed a sad truth about his struggle with substance on Friday.
The Olympic swimmer informed his fans that he has been struggling with a “serious” alcohol addiction. Revelations about his substance abuse issues began surfacing after he was involved in a drunken incident in Newport Beach on Thursday.
Lochte allegedly tried to drunkenly break into his hotel room by banging down the door around 3 a.m. local time.
“Lochte is realizing he’s been battling an ‘alcohol addiction’ and needs to address it before the problem gets worse,” TMZ reports.
But this isn’t a new issue. Lochte’s lawyer, Jeff Ostrow told TMZ:
Ryan has been battling from alcohol addiction for many years and, unfortunately, it has become a destructive pattern for him. He has acknowledged that he needs professional assistance to overcome his problem and will be getting help immediately. Ryan knows that conquering this disease now is a must for him to avoid making future poor decisions, to be the best husband and father he can be, and if he wants to achieve his goal to return to dominance in the pool in his 5th Olympics in Tokyo in 2020.
Lochte’s drinking could have exacerbated his issues during the 2016 Rio summer Olympics, where he was accused of lying about being robbed at a local gas station.
No word on whether Lochte will go to rehab or seek treatment for his issue.