Their departure marked what the US Olympic team hopes will be the closing stages of an incident that has embarrassed the host city, angered the police and government, unleashed a storm on social media, and dominated news coverage of South America’s first Olympics.
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In this image made from video, American Olympic swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger walk in the departure area after checking into their flight at the airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016.
Update 8am: The American Olympic Committee has apologised to Brazil after a number of its swimmers were accused of faking an armed robbery in Rio.
According to the Daily Mail, Lochte and Feigen – the only two of the four who have given statements to police – said they were so drunk that they didn’t know exactly where they were robbed, or what type of taxi they took to return to the athletes village.
He had insisted the swimmer had nothing to gain by making the story up. Either one or all of them vandalized a gas station, which initiated a confrontation with security guards, Veloso said.
On Sunday, Lochte gave a chilling account to NBC, which is broadcasting the Olympics in the United States, saying the swimmers’ taxi was pulled over and men flashed a police badge at the Americans before forcing them to the ground. Lochte returned to the United States before police could secure his passport to ensure his availability as they did the others.
During the two weeks of the Rio Games, the sporting action has been competing for headlines against a series of muggings and armed robberies of high-profile athletes and visitors in Rio de Janeiro, including two government ministers.
Bentz and Conger were prevented from leaving Brazil and had their passports seized by police on Wednesday as investigations continue. The story continued to unravel well into Thursday. “They were not victims of the crimes they claimed”, Civil Police Chief Fernando Veloso said during a news conference. But a police source later told Reuters that this had not yet happened.
Neither Lochte nor Feigen could be contacted for comment. As they walked from the building, a waiting crowd shouted “liars” and “fakes”.
Veloso, Rio’s police chief, said police investigations had revealed that the swimmers had broken a mirror and a soap-holder in the bathroom, adding that they then handed over a total of 100 reais ($31) and $20 in USA currency as compensation.
However, Rio police spotted inconsistencies in their initial statements and, following an investigation, civil police chief Fernando Veloso told a press conference that Lochte had lied to cover up a freakish episode at a petrol station and the presence of two women the group had met at the party who were in a second taxi. “Once they were calm, the gun was lowered”.
The US Olympic body has now acknowledged that one of its athletes had committed an act of vandalism in a gas station restroom and the swimmers had then handed over money to security staff after they had demanded payment for the damage.
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Veloso says the other swimmers say it was Ryan Lochte who created the lie. “They did not make any untruthful testimony”.
