Lochte previously said the US swimmers were in a taxi early Sunday morning when it was pulled over by guys with a badge.
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Rio police, in a press conference Thursday, said the swimmers who claimed they were robbed at gunpoint fabricated their story to cover up for a drunken night that ended with them vandalizing a gas station bathroom.
Lochte also said the swimmers didn’t initially tell U.S. Olympic officials what happened because “we were afraid we’d get in trouble”.
The United States Olympic Committee is apologizing for the “distracting ordeal” involving four Olympic swimmers.
“But I can’t imagine they’ll have an worldwide dust-up over this”, Hornsby said.
However, Ryan Lochte had already returned to the United States, where he continued to peddle the story earlier this week until details began to unravel. Feigen is still in Brazil, and his passport reportedly has been seized.
Update, 8:01 p.m. EDT: ESPN now reports that Lochte and Feigen may not be formally indicted yet after all.
It was unclear what consequences Lochte, 32, might face, since it has been rumored he will retire from competitive swimming, although the scandal may hurt his prospects for potentially lucrative commercial endorsements.
“We have four very strong men with very inappropriate behavior, breaking things, damaging things at this gas station and showing they were prone to escalate this kind of violence”, he said, adding the gun was pulled in an attempt to control the swimmers. Conger and Bentz also allegedly confirmed to police that Lochte’s story was a lie.
US Olympic swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz check in at the worldwide airport to board a flight back to the US after spending the day being interrogated by police in Rio de Janeiro, August 18, 2016.
“The authorities know how to get in touch with me, and we would cooperate”, Ostrow said.
Brazilian Judge Keyla Blank issued a search and seizure warrant for Lochte and Feigen on 17 August for additional questioning and to determine whether the two had filed a false police report. According to the police’s version of events, the swimmers were drunk and were at the gas station to use the bathroom when one of them broke a door which caused an argument with the gas station’s security staff. That, however, did not last long as Lochte then gave two interviews to United States television that outlined the details of the alleged taxi ambush. “Once the security officials received money from the athletes, the athletes were allowed to leave”, the USOC said.
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Ryan Lochte may have hightailed it out of Rio de Janeiro in the wake of his much-disputed tale of being a victim of an armed robbery, but his sponsors haven’t abandoned the 12-time Olympic medalist.
