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Rio’s big story was the wrong story

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Nikki Hamblin stopped to help Topsfield’s Abbey D'Agostino, who had tripped over a fallen Hamblin and injured herself during a 5,000-meter heat in Rio.REUTERS

Team USA packed its bags in Brazil last Sunday night with the most gold, silver, and bronze medals (final line: 46-37-38—121) in the 2016 Olympic Games. Quite a showing. The Yanks ripped in Rio.

But thanks to swimmer Ryan Lochte, a one-man locomotive of lying, America's lasting legacy in Brazil won't be its medal haul, or the great individual successes of swimmers Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky or gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman.

Instead, it'll be Lyin' Ryan, the guy with his hair dyed silver and the tin-plated apology.

When it finally came time to own his pile of lies, when interviewed yet again on the subject by NBC's Matt Lauer, the best Lochte could offer was that he "over-exaggerated'' his story. What he originally said was a robbery, with a gun trained to his head, proved to be an armed security guard forcing a drunken Lochte to make good on damages the swimmer caused during an early-morning bathroom stop at a local gas station.

"I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself,'' noted Lochte in a follow-up written apology.

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Try as he might, though, Lochte fooled no one, particularly his sponsors. Less than 24 hours after the flame was extinguished in Rio, Lochte's four lead financial backers, including Speedo and Ralph Lauren, pulled the plug on his endorsement deals.

Speedo released a statement, saying it could not "condone behavior that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for," and directed that a $50,000 payment due Lochte instead be donated to needy Brazilian youth. There's a tiny bit of grandstanding in there by the swimwear maker, but after being dragged to the bottom of the pool by Lochte, who's to argue?

Sadly overshadowed by Lyin' Ryan was perhaps the Games' most touching moment, one that involved Topsfield runner Abbey D'Agostino, ex- of Dartmouth College and Masconomet Regional High.

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D'Agostino limped home from Rio without one of those 121 made-for-USA medals, but she did return as co-owner of the IOC's International Fair Play Committee Award, which she shared with New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin. True to the award's definition, both women epitomized Olympic values of fair play and sportsmanship.

In case you missed it amid Lochte's protracted and nauseating whopper fest, the two women tangled up and fell midway through a 5,000-meter heat. Hamblin fell first, which led to D'Agostino toppling over, and it was the more severely injured D'Agostino (torn ACL) who then literally took pains to help Hamblin back on her feet. The chance of Olympic glory gone in that instant for both of them, the women made sure one another made it to the finish line.

"I think many people would have returned the favor,'' said Hamblin, grateful for the 24-year-old D'Agostino's aid.

Last to get across the line, the women did not qualify for the 5,000-meter final, though appeals by both nations won over the hearts and minds of Games officials, gaining them each a berth in the medal race. D'Agostino's injuries kept her sidelined. Hamblin ran and finished last.

Reflecting on their mutual lost chances, the 28-year-old Hamblin said, "I don't think either of us woke up and thought that was going to be our day, or our race, or our Olympics.''

Such a contrast in instincts between Lochte and the two women, and a perfect example of defining oneself under pressure, making the right choice in the moment, be it amid athletic competition or otherwise.

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For reasons only he truly knows, Lochte found himself (or put himself) in a tough spot that morning in the gas station. Based on multiple reports, he tore a poster off a wall, prompting at least one armed security guard on duty to force Lochte and his three teammates — Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, and Jimmy Feigen — to pay for the damage before they departed via cab. Reports have it that they scraped up the equivalent of $50 in Brazilian and US currency and then were allowed to leave, returning in dawn's light to the Athletes Village.

It all likely would have ended there, for a mere $50, had Lochte not hours later started to run his mouth and imagination, concocting his wild, wild west stick-up story. He tried to start reeling it back in an initial interview with Lauer, then tiptoed around a full apology in a second interview with the NBC host. Lochte "over-exaggerated.'' You bet. It brought back those lazy, hazy "misremembered'' days of Roger Clemens.

Lochte, forced to act on instinct, repeatedly chose the wrong thing over the right. Repeatedly, he failed. Miserably. Platinum medal dunderhead.

Then we have Hamblin and D'Agostino. In the heat of competition, with their chance of Olympic fame and glory shattered in their fall, they acted on instinct and made things right. D'Agostino, her knee ripped up, propped up Hamblin. Then Hamblin, fit enough at least to attempt bolting after the herd, opted instead to make sure D'Agostino finished out the race.

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At every turn, in seconds or fractions of a second, D'Agostino and Hamblin made the right choice. None of that brought gold, silver, or bronze, which as we all know are the Games' raisons d'etre. Athletes go for gold. And sportsmanship, at best, usually tags along in a sidecar.

But their actions set the two women apart, covering them with dignity and honor. D'Agostino and Hamblin departed Rio with a somewhat obscure award that, frankly, is widely considered a door prize in the Games' faster-higher-stronger spirit of things. There usually is nothing all that great about doing the right thing, until you do it, especially when most of the attention goes somewhere else.


Kevin Paul Dupont's "On Second Thought" appears regularly in the Sunday Globe Sports section. He can be reached at dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.