Ryan Lochte gives blunt verdict on financial incentives shaping athlete decisions in sports

Retired American swimmer Ryan Lochte expressed his thoughts on the regressive situation of Olympic sports and the overemphasis on financial incentives. Lochte, a Rochester native, has been involved with the circuit for more than two decades.

Owing to this, he has competed in tournaments around the world and has been a witness to the gradual changes that have occurred in the circuit of swimming and several other disciplines. The University of Florida alum also hinted at the situation around collegiate athletes in his conversation on the Unfiltered Waters podcast.

During the conversation, Lochte revealed that the perspective of the athletes around most sports has shifted towards money, starting from college, and that this was not the situation during his time. Additionally, he also said that most of the sports, in his opinion, are downgrading, especially the Olympics. He said (via Unfiltered Waters, 45:08 onwards):

"I see people come in and be like, "man if I could do this, I will get a hundred grand that would be good or like this college is looking for me so they're asking for 50 grand more than this college like I got to go that way", and that's not how the case was back then. I honestly think it's turning into all sports, and it's kind of sad to see like a lot of the sports are starting to die."

Ryan Lochte further sarcastically remarked on breakdancing being an Olympic sport and further opined that cornhole could be the next in line for the quadrennial games.

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Ryan Lochte reveals the reason for not turning down an autograph to any children

Ryan Lochte in 2021 (Image via: Getty)

Ryan Lochte revealed why he signs autographs for every kid who comes up to him. The 40-year-old has always spoken positively about the immense contribution of his fans to his swimming career.

Speaking in an interview, Lochte said he gets shocked when children approach him and ask for an autograph. He added that he was turned down for an autograph by a professional swimmer when he was eight years old and that he doesn't want to repeat this with any of his fans. He said (via the Unfiltered Waters Podcast):

"When someone comes up and some kids say, "Can I take your picture?" I am like, wait, me? Because when I was eight years old, it happened to me. There was a swimmer and I asked for an autograph and he said no and I was broke down in tears."

Lochte also stated that signing autographs and making his fans happy is a "cool" experience for him and that it is something that makes him very happy.