Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte has been suspended 14 months by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for receiving an illegal intravenous infusion in May.
Lochte, a six-time Olympic gold medalist, will be banned until next July after breaking anti-doping rules around athletes not being able to receive IVs unless given an exemption or if they are hospitalized, per the USADA.
According to USADA’s statement, Lochte did not take any banned substances but contravened rules about the use of IVs in quantities over 100 millilitres.
Lochte said he still has his eyes set on appearing at Tokyo 2020 and stated, “I wasn’t taking anything illegal. Everything was legal. You can get it at CVS, Walgreens, but there are rules, and you have to obey them. … Don’t worry. I’m not giving up. I’m going to keep going [to Tokyo 2020]”, according to Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports.
Lochte will miss the Pan Pacific Championships in August and the 2019 World Championships, and his ban was backdated to May 24th.