Lawyer: Ryan Lochte Finally Getting Help for Longtime Issue

A hotel altercation this week has forced an Olympic champion to seek treatment for a longtime problem. TMZ Sports reports swimmer Ryan Lochte found himself in trouble Thursday after he tried to bust through his own hotel room door in the middle of the night in Newport Beach, Calif. He was apparently intoxicated, and therein lies the issue. "Ryan has been battling from alcohol addiction for many years and unfortunately it has become a destructive pattern for him," Lochte's lawyer now tells TMZ. "He has acknowledged that he needs professional assistance to overcome his problem and will be getting help immediately."

The 34-year-old has had other brushes with booze-fueled controversy, including the famous 2016 incident in Rio in which he and fellow swimmers there for the Olympics were accused of vandalizing a gas station restroom; Lochte was later charged for filing a false robbery report, and he came clean that he was drunk at the time. Page Six notes he was seen in August throwing back drink after drink in Las Vegas. "Ryan knows that conquering this disease now is a must for him to avoid making future poor decisions, to be the best husband and father he can be, and if he wants to achieve his goal to return to dominance in the pool in his fifth Olympics in Tokyo in 2020," Ostrow tells TMZ. (More Ryan Lochte stories.)