Ryan Lochte auctions Olympic gold medals amid divorce battle

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Ryan Lochte is looking to cash in on some of his old gold.

The U.S. Olympic swimming legend, who has been in the headlines this year as he is going through a bitter divorce from former Playboy model Kayla Reid, has put three of his gold medals up for auction.

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Lochte shared a video in collaboration with Goldin auction house announcing that the retired swimmer, 41, has consigned three of his six gold medals through the popular site.

“Three Gold Medals marking @ryanlochte’s rise through Olympic history. Each medal tells a story of dominance, teamwork, and history,” the caption said.

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The three medals available on the site are from the 4×200-metre relay races in 2004, 2008 and 2016.

The starting price for each auction began at US$20,000, with the 2008 medal from the Beijing Games currently holding the highest bid at $32,000.

The auctions opened on Dec. 10 and will run until Jan. 3, 2026.

Goldin auctions also recently handled the bidding for the game-winning home run ball hit by Blue Jays’ George Springer in Game 7 of the ALCS.

“My Olympic medals represent memories I’ll carry for life, but now I want them to do more than sit on a shelf,” Lochte told People.

“I’m passing them on so they can help inspire and empower others. If these medals can give someone hope, fuel their dreams or help them reach their full potential,” he says, “then this is the greatest way I can give back.”

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Bitter divorce details alleged substance abuse

Lochte has been locked in a bitter divorce battle with Reid, with whom he shares three children.

In a September court filing, Reid alleges that the former U.S. Olympic swimmer used drugs in front their young children and also drove them while intoxicated, according to a report from US Weekly.

Kayla Reid Lochte’s filing, which was obtained by the outlet earlier this week, has since been temporarily sealed from the public per Ryan’s request to the court.

Reid, 34, is fighting to gain full custody of the couple’s three children — son Caiden Zane, 8, and daughters Liv Rae, 6, and Georgia June, 2 — through the courts.

“Shared parental responsibility would be detrimental to the children because (Ryan) has a history of substance abuse and, upon information and belief, he is still abusing illegal controlled substances,” she wrote in the court filing, according to US Weekly.

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The documents alleged that Reid had found “mostly empty baggies of cocaine around the marital home as (Lochte) had consumed the majority of the contents before the baggies were discovered.”

Among areas that these baggies were allegedly found include one of the children’s bedrooms, on their bathroom counter and under the family’s dining room table.

Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medallist, also is accused by Reid of sometimes being “passed out in the driver’s seat (of his car), with the car still on and the music blaring” after driving the kids to school.

“(Lochte) has also fallen asleep while being the only adult watching the children because (Reid) was working out of town,” the court docs allege.

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