“This Is Freaking Awesome”: Ryan Lochte Gets Teary-Eyed While Reminiscing About His Maiden Olympic Campaign

There are many “firsts” that people encounter throughout their lifetime. Swimming superstar Ryan Lochte recently shared an interesting video related to a very important phase of his life. Lochte has had a professional swimming career full of ups and downs. He started his career in 2004 and is a 6-time Olympic Gold medalist.

Ryan Lochte recently posted a video describing a very emotional moment from a place that is close to his heart. 

Ryan Lochte records a video from the place where it all started

The Olympic Gold Medalist was in Athens recently. It is the same place where he first grabbed the global limelight. Posting a video of the swimming pool area, he said, “This is the pool where my Olympic swimming career started”. 

Ryan Lochte’s eyes were shining brightly with had a broad smile on his face. It seemed like the flashes of his first Olympic victory were popping up in front of his eyes while he was speaking. As he reminisced, tears came out of his eyes. “This is freaking awesome,” he said with a trembling voice while wiping off his tears. 

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Ryan won his first Olympic Gold medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the Athens Olympics in 2004. He also grabbed a silver medal in the 200-meter individual medley (IM), behind fellow American athlete Michael Phelps. 

Lochte’s career trajectory since Athens

Sharing the victory stand with Michael Phelps in the first Olympics gave him the global attention of fans and experts. However, he did not stop there and kept rising exponentially. With six gold and 12 Olympic medals, he became the second-most decorated Olympic swimmer of all time.

However, his infamous Lochtegate scandal during the Rio Olympics damaged his reputation. A scandal in which Ryan Lochte and two teammates fabricated a story of having been robbed at gunpoint. Following the scandal, Lochte was suspended from competing for ten months and lost all of his major endorsement deals. 

Ryan Lochte has had a dazzling career. He was always in the headlines since his debut in 2004. There have been many turns and twist in his long career, but the 2004 Olympics acted as a major confidence booster for him.

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