Here are some of the stars we will not see in the Olympic pool in Tokyo:
1. Ryan Lochte, USA
Alongside Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte was for many years the big star in American swimming.
Lochte made his Olympic debut in 2004 and has swum home twelve medals in total, half of which are in gold. The merit list also includes 18 World Cup gold medals in long distance.
But all his successes have been overshadowed by the scandal at the Rio Olympics five years ago.
After the swimming was over in Rio, Ryan Lochte was out partying with some of his teammates.
The day after the party night, Lochte stated that they had been robbed at gunpoint. The information received a lot of attention in the media around the world, not least considering that security in Rio was strongly questioned before the Olympics.
However, it quickly turned out that the information was incorrect. What had happened was that Ryan Lochte and his teammates in a really drunk state smashed a toilet door on a gas station, and after that got into a fight with the owner of the gas station who wanted compensation.
Today, Ryan Lochte is 36 years old and in a better place in life, and despite the Olympics being postponed for a year, he made it clear early on that his goal was to get to Tokyo for a fifth Olympic start.
But when the American Olympic qualifier was held at the end of June, he was a good distance both from qualifying individually in the 200 meter medley – where he still holds the world record – and to take one of the places in the team in the 4×200 meter freestyle.
After missing the Olympics, Lochte made it clear that he is still not done with swimming, but if he will continue to compete swimming or engage in the sport in another way, he could not answer then.
– Chinese star Sun Yang is suspended, and thus has no opportunity to defend his two Olympic gold medals.
Photo: Mark Schiefelbein / AP
2) Sun Yang, China
The quarrel that arose in connection with a doping control at Sun Yang’s home in September 2018 – and which ended with one of the star’s guards breaking the doping test with a hammer – has been a tenacious story.
It was not until late spring this year that it came to an end when the case was heard for the second time in Cas, the sports arbitration court since Sun Yang appealed.
When the verdict came, Sun Yang, who has previously been suspended for a short period for doping, was admittedly reduced from eight to four years, but there will be no Olympics in Tokyo for the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 and 400 meter freestyle.
However, as the verdict is valid from February 28, 2020, when the first verdict came, he is free to compete in the Olympics in Paris 2024. Something like 29-year-old Sun Yang, who is as loved at home in China as he is questioned by competitors, has said he plans to do.
– Maddie Groves himself has opted out of the Olympics – and raged against the Australian Swimming Federation.
Foto: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
3) Maddie Groves, Australien
A few weeks before the Australian Olympics in June, the double silver medalist – in the 200m butterfly and 4x100m medley – from the Rio Olympics 26-year-old Maddie Groves surprisingly announced that she did not intend to try to take a place in the Olympic squad.
She did so by writing an Instagram message in which she launched a furious attack on the Australian Swimming Federation.
Among other things, Maddie Groves wrote: “Let this be a lesson for all perverted misogynists.”
After that, she did not want to develop her accusations further, and according to the BBC, the union has not managed to get any direct contact with her.
So exactly what happened is still shrouded in obscurity, but it is clear that Maddie Groves will not start in Tokyo.
However, she will continue her career, and compete again this fall.
– Nathan Adrian did not swim well enough in the Olympic competitions.
Photo: Ashley Landis/AP
4) Nathan Adrian, USA
Everything has an end, even for multiple gold medalists. For 32-year-old freestyle swimmer Nathan Adrian, it came in the American Olympic competitions.
Nathan Adrian made his Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008. He has swum home five Olympic gold medals, four in team competition and one individual in the 100 meter freestyle.
At the Olympics in Rio, he took bronze individually in both the 50 and 100 meter freestyle.
In December 2018, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The cancer was detected early, and the treatment worked well. Something that made Nathan Adrian in the summer of 2019 able to lead the US freestyle team to World Cup gold.
But after the American Olympic competitions – where everything that has happened before does not matter but the placements in the qualifiers are absolutely crucial – it is clear that it will not be a fourth Olympic start for Adrian.
Only the top two from each country can participate in the Olympics and in the final of the 50 meter freestyle, Adrian finished third.
In the double distance, he did not make it to the finals after having the 13th best time in the semis. Thus, he also missed the chance to be selected as a team swimmer.
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