Olympics: Speedo USA becomes the first major sponsor to drop Lochte

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Ryan Lochte lost his first major sponsor when Speedo USA announced it is dropping the swimmer over a drunken incident during the Rio Olympics that he initially described as an armed robbery.

As part of the decision, Speedo said Monday it will donate $50,000 of Lochte's fee to Save The Children to benefit needy youngsters in Brazil.

Speedo says that while it had "a winning relationship with Ryan for over a decade and he has been an important member of the Speedo team," it could not condone his behavior after the end of Rio's swimming competition.

At first, Lochte said he and three swimming teammates were robbed after their taxi was pulled over by armed men posing as police. He has since apologized for embellishing his version of events.