It’s hard to imagine any athlete more excited for the ball to drop and 2017 to begin than Ryan Lochte.
He’d spent that second half of 2016 trying to move on and move forward from his involvement in that infamous gas station incident that cast a dark shadow over the second week of competition at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. The incident embarrassed the entire U.S. Olympic contingent and ultimately cost him his most high-profile sponsors.
“2016 is now in the past, and I’m putting that behind me,” Lochte told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m looking forward to having a clean start.