Ryan Lochte admits loving yellow Starburst, and the maker obliges him

Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte’s recent confession in the Observer that he has a weakness for yellow Starburst paid off this week in an unexpected way.

He is now the proud owner of enough to last the average person a year.

“When Starburst heard Ryan was a fan of the infamous yellow color, the brand sent him something better than a gold medal – his own personalized jar full of yellow Starburst,” said Hilary Golubski, who works for the public relations agency that handles Wrigley’s and its Starburst brand.

Lochte tweeted photos of his trophy, with a message thanking Starburst for “hooking him up.”

Starburst learned of the Charlotte resident’s affinity for the yellow chews from a May 24 Observer article that detailed his pre-Olympics eating habits, both good and bad. “When I was a kid,” Lochte said, “the other kids loved the cherry and the strawberry Starbursts and the yellow ones were always left. So I said to myself one day ‘I got to try these.’ And I loved them.”

Lochte said he has been successfully resisting Starburst the past few months while training for the 2016 Olympics, but that may have gotten tougher.

Mark Price

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Ryan Lochte admits loving yellow Starburst, and the maker obliges him."