Content Advisory: This article discusses financial strain, tax debt, divorce-related court details, and a past Olympic scandal. Reader discretion is advised.
Ryan Lochte sold nine Olympic medals for nearly $550,000, but he insists the move was not some desperate cash grab.
The 12-time Olympic medalist recently pushed back after fans assumed he auctioned off the medals because of financial trouble. Lochte had already sold six silver and bronze medals in 2022 for around $166,000. His latest sales brought the overall total close to $550,000.
That kind of number naturally raised eyebrows. So did his history of sponsor losses, tax debt, and divorce-related financial details. Still, Lochte says people are missing the point.
“I’m financially A-OK to support me and my entire Brady Bunch family,” Lochte said. “A lot of people got that wrong.”
Ryan Lochte Says Medals Were Collecting Dust
Lochte admitted he has tax debt, but said the medals no longer held the same meaning for him.
“Do I have some tax debt? Yes, but I did it because I don’t need them,” he explained. “And I’ve done the hard work. I cherish those memories, and if I got money from it, great!”
For Lochte, the real value was never the medal itself. It was the years of pain, training, sacrifice, and pressure that led him there. “The thing that gets me the most is the journey that it took me to get there,” he said. “The medals, they were just collecting dust in a sock drawer.”
That answer did not convince everyone.
Online, some critics said most athletes would have kept the medals or donated them. One person argued Lochte could have passed them down to his children, given them to the Smithsonian, or donated them to a swimming program to inspire young athletes. “If he were doing well, there would be no need to sell,” the commenter wrote.
Rio Scandal Changed His Career
Lochte’s money story has been complicated for years.
At his peak, he reportedly earned well over $1 million a year through sponsorships, endorsements, and appearances. Then came the 2016 Rio Olympics scandal. Lochte falsely claimed that he and three other U.S. swimmers were robbed at gunpoint. Authorities later said the group had vandalized a gas station bathroom. The fallout led to a 10-month suspension and cost him major sponsors, including Speedo and Ralph Lauren.
In 2018, he was suspended again after receiving an intravenous vitamin B12 infusion. His earnings reportedly dropped hard after sponsors pulled away.
Court papers tied to his 2025 divorce also showed financial strain, including more than $167,000 in medical expenses and unpaid IRS taxes allegedly nearing $99,000.
Lochte Takes Low-Paying Coaching Job
Lochte recently joined Missouri State University as an assistant swim coach. The job is expected to pay around $30,000 a year, with small performance bonuses tied to team and swimmer success.
He says the move is not about money either. “I took this job because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this,” Lochte said.
After failing to make his fifth Olympic team in 2021, Lochte said he lost the fire that had driven him for decades. “After 2021, I lost all the fire in me,” he admitted. “I didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Now, he seems to be chasing something medals and money could not give him anymore: purpose.
