The two swimmers were involved in the alleged Sunday night robbery, where they, along with fellow swimmers Ryan Lochte and Jimmy Feigen, said they had wallets and money taken at gunpoint during a taxi ride back to Olympic Village. On Wednesday, Brazilian judge Keyla Blanc tried to catch him before he left Rio for the United States but, like many global swimmers, he was too slow for Lochte.
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“Local police arrived at the Olympic Village this a.m. and asked to meet with Ryan Lochte and James Feigen and collect their passports in order to secure further testimony from the athletes”.
A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered Lochte and Feigen to remain in Brazil as authorities investigated their account of being robbed at gunpoint in Rio early Sunday by assailants dressed as police officers.
According to the AP, law enforcement have not found evidence to support the athletes’ claims and that authorities say the men have not been able to provide key details.
An attorney later told The Associated Press the swimmers would not be allowed to leave Brazil until they testified. However, the investigation is still ongoing, and Lochte’s lawyer, Jeff Ostrow, insists that his version of events is the correct one. Lochte said he wouldn’t make up a story like this, Matt Lauer reported tonight.
“They pulled us over”, Lochte said.
Now, Brazilian officials are suggesting that the USA swimmers may not have told the whole truth – and need to answer questions.
It was not immediately clear where Bentz and Conger had been transported.
But police have made increasingly skeptical statements about the incident.
Lochte, 32, has won six Olympic gold medals, including his victory with the USA’s 4x200m freestyle relay team in Rio.
Well, we have the next insane turn. “The main thing is he’s very lucky that he’s safe and that all they got was his cash and wallet”, declared Lochte’s father. Lochte also said the assailant pointed a gun at him rather than putting it to his head.
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Ryan Steven Lochte is an American competitive swimmer and a 12-time Olympic medalist, which ranks him tied second in swimming behind Michael Phelps. According to the video, they returned around four hours after they left the party, although the journey should only take half an hour. An International Olympic Committee spokesman at first said reports of the robbery were “absolutely not true”, then reversed himself, apologized and said he was relying on initial information from the USOC that was wrong.
