Former Gators swimmer Ryan Lochte at the Rio Olympic Games. (Photo: USA Today Sports)
Carter's Corner: Lochte Escapes Harm; Faehn to Replace Karolyi?
Monday, August 15, 2016 | General, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Now we know.
You may recall after the 2012 London Games, former Gators swimmer Ryan Lochte capitalized on his fame with a reality television show called "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?" The show was cancelled after one season on E!, so Lochte jumped back into the pool and swam toward the Rio Games, where he added another gold medal to his collection last week as a member of the U.S. 4x200-meter freestyle relay team.
However, Lochte's time in Rio took a scary turn over the weekend when he was robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning. According to Lochte, he and three other swimmers were in a taxi when they were pulled over by men impersonating police officers.
The situation quickly escalated into a dangerous one.
So what did Ryan Lochte do?
"They pulled out their guns, they told the other swimmers to get down on the ground – they got down on the ground,'' Lochte told NBC on Sunday. "I refused. I was like we didn't do anything wrong. And then the guy pulled out his gun, he cocked it, put it to my forehead and he said, 'Get down,' and I put my hands up.
"I was like 'whatever.' He took our money, he took my wallet – he left my cell phone, he left my credentials."
One of those in the running is former Gators gymnastics coach Rhonda Faehn, who was coached by Bela Karolyi as a member of the USA program in the late 1980s and has maintained a close relationship with the first couple of gymnastics. Rhonda Faehn, right. (File photo)
Faehn, who led the Gators to three consecutive national championships from 2013-15, left the Gators to become senior vice president with USA Gymnastics. According to Bela Karolyi, the top candidates are Faehn and Valeri Liukin.
Liukin is the father of Nastia Liukin, the 2008 all-around Olympic gold medalist, and owns World Olympics Gymnastics Academy in Dallas.
Here is what Bela Karolyi told Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel about Faehn's qualifications: "Rhonda was our gymnast, she knows the system, she grew up under the system. She has no problem applying the system."
The USA team captured the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
