--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: Ryan Lochte Blond Hair Turned Green description: Ryan Lochte debuted icy blue hair before the Rio Olympics in keeping with Team USA's red, white, and blue — but chlorine has taken its toll. canonical: https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-10T17:14:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:30.670Z og:title: Ryan Lochte Broke the Number One Rule for Bleach Blonds og:description: Jeah, no. og:url: https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2564f13347e90261/6988a1df428a9edfe8cd3da1/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Swimming - Olympics: Day 4 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ryan Lochte Broke the Number One Rule for Bleach Blonds twitter:description: Jeah, no. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2564f13347e90261/6988a1df428a9edfe8cd3da1/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ryan Lochte Broke the Number One Rule for Platinum Blonds and Turned His Hair Green > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=a61cb606-824f-4804-bca0-5869c7d73dfd&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Rio's Pools Are Turning Green [Watch (HLS stream): Rio's Pools Are Turning Green](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7hNlwwve.m3u8) (0:50)  _Published 2016-08-10. The water in the Rio Olympics diving pool turned from a crystal blue to a murky green Tuesday due to a “proliferation of algae,” an official said._  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 10, 2016 5:14 PM UTC  Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Francis Haas of Team USA celebrate winning the gold medal during the medal ceremony of the men's 200m freestyle relay on day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Francis Haas of Team USA celebrate winning the gold medal during the medal ceremony of the men's 200m freestyle relay on day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 9, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jean Catuffe-Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Aug 10, 2016 5:14 PM UTC [Ryan Lochte](http://time.com/4424414/rio-olympics-2016-summer-athletes/?iid=sr-link3) made waves when [he debuted icy blue, platinum locks](http://time.com/4433738/ryan-lochte-unveils-dramatic-new-hair-for-rio-olympics-2016/) before heading to [Rio for the Olympic games](http://time.com/money/4433479/brazil-economy-olympics-preview/), but his dramatic style has gone awry thanks to Lochte’s sport. As any platinum or peroxide blonde will tell you, there’s one cardinal rule that all manufactured towheads must follow: _avoid chlorinated pools at all costs_. The pool’s chemicals turn sparkling white blonde hair into sickly green strands. Apparently, no one bothered to tell Lochte that, [who has probably spent more time in the pool](http://time.com/4442088/rio-2016-olympics-swimming-what-to-watch/) since he got his hair bleached than out of it and his hair has definitely been feeling the effects, as seen in his latest Instagram that celebrates his victory in the 4×200 free relay. Lucky for Lochte, however, a gold medal looks good with hair of any hue, whether blue, green, or blonde. We’d advise Lochte to grab some purple shampoo before his hair really turns the color of Rio’s diving pool. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/"},"headline":"Ryan Lochte Broke the Number One Rule for Platinum Blonds and Turned His Hair Green","datePublished":"2016-08-10T17:14:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:06:30.670Z","description":"Jeah, no.","url":"https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/","keywords":["Newsfeed","olympics","entertainment","Summer Olympics","Ryan Lochte","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Rio 2016 Olympics","Sports"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2564f13347e90261/6988a1df428a9edfe8cd3da1/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2564f13347e90261/6988a1df428a9edfe8cd3da1/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Swimming - Olympics: Day 4","caption":"Swimming - Olympics: Day 4","creditText":"Jean Catuffe-Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/","name":"Ryan Lochte Broke the Number One Rule for Platinum Blonds and Turned His Hair Green"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Rio's Pools Are Turning Green","description":"The water in the Rio Olympics diving pool turned from a crystal blue to a murky green Tuesday due to a “proliferation of algae,” an official said.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7hNlwwve/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-08-10T13:31:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7hNlwwve.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/","duration":"PT50S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4446580/rio-2016-olympics-ryan-lochte-platinum-blonde-hair/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```